Becoming Better Theologians (part 23)

Bethlehem Bible Church

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May 8, 2011

Becoming Better Theologians (part 24)

00:01: Father in heaven, what a blessing it is to be here on this beautiful spring morning on Mother's Day as we think of how you have blessed us
00:09: Through our mothers and how much more or do you have? Blessed us not just by giving us physical life
00:15: But by giving us spiritual life bringing us from death into life through the work of your son,
00:21: Jesus Christ Even placing the spirit of or the seal of the Holy Spirit upon us father be with us this morning
00:29: As we study your word and what you've revealed To us about yourself father bless our time in Christ's name we pray amen
00:41: Well, I thought we might start with something completely Unrelated to anything we've been talking about I would invite you all to turn for just a minute
00:57: To Ezekiel Bookmark this so I wasn't here.
01:04: I think it's Ezekiel 18 verse 23 I was thinking about Osama bin
01:14: Laden and some of the things that have been said this week, and I mean
01:19: I heard a Catholic priest saying what a terrible thing it was that he was killed and And you know
01:27: I've rather seen others dancing in the streets over it, and I think You know I'll just take a minute or two to just address this biblically
01:35: Ezekiel 18 23 says this And this is the Lord speaking he says
01:40: Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked declares the Lord God and not rather that he should turn from his way and live
01:51: Well, it's a rhetorical question and the idea being that God would prefer
01:57: In his desire of will that people repent and thus he does not take any delight in the death of the wicked
02:05: However, let's look at Romans 13 as well. I Like this chapter because it says something
02:19: I said something rather controversial in our fundamentals of the faith class Bible boot camp the other night because I like to stir them up to You know get their blood boiling, and I just said listen
02:30: What about you know the idea of resisting the government You know protesting protesting is fine
02:38: But I think if you if you violate the law you're gonna have some difficulties with the Word of God Romans 13 verse 1 let every person
02:48: Say that again let every person be subject to the governing authorities The government for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God So you might think that you're fighting against ungodly rulers
03:03: But the truth is they are instituted by God verse 2 therefore whoever resists the authorities resist
03:09: What God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment
03:14: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad Now are there times where it's a terror to good conduct yes
03:22: But I think we have to look at the bigger picture it restrains evil He says would you have no fear of the one who is in authority
03:31: Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval for he is God's servant for your good
03:38: But if you do wrong be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain
03:43: For he is the servant of God an avenger who carries out God's wrath on The wrongdoer, so how do you balance those two things
03:53: God takes? No delight in the death of the wicked and yet God has appointed government and government is an avenger of the wicked of those who do wrong
04:04: And I think this this week is a perfect illustration of that any comments thoughts
04:13: Listen God is just a Yeah, I think
04:38: Yeah, I think there really is a problem And I think I think the issue you know with regard to resisting the government if the government is at the point where they are
04:48: Systematically and I emphasize the word systematically because people want to apply this to abortion No one in this country is yet forced to have an abortion
04:57: That's why I kind of I don't like the term genocide because that implies a systematic extinguishing of a group of people but in terms of the
05:07: Holocaust World War two when you have The government actively rounding up a group of people namely the
05:14: Jews and then seeking to exterminate them Be really I don't see how you could possibly cooperate with such a thing as that and so That would be the ultimate dilemma
05:27: I agree with that Charlie Right yeah his justice absolutely demands it and you know we can certainly look at Romans 9 that talks about they were vessels prepared beforehand for destruction so I Mean I think often and I say this a lot
06:14: And I think this is pertinent to our study of God that our thoughts of God are Too human that we think well
06:20: God can only do this or he can only do that and we forget that God is You know what is it that Sinclair Ferguson told
06:29: Pastor Mike that God is simultaneously exercising all of his attributes You know all the time and so we forget you know yes,
06:38: God is loving and cares for us, and he's patient and he's gracious, but he's also righteous holy and Indignant with sin he hates sin, and he's going to punish it
06:56: Yeah, I think that's a good statement and and again that was
07:04: I have no delight in Seeing a man sent you know to stand for his maker who's totally unprepared to do so so that's right
07:15: But on the other hand we like to see the the protection of government accomplished so Yeah, Bruce Yeah, I mean there's certainly that aspect of it
07:58: I mean when you consider I mean from what I've seen of the news reports that he basically spent his time trying to figure out how to kill more people
08:06: You know you just go now. There is someone you know I mean you get back to kind of a Genesis 6 mindset you know where God says the intended thoughts of men were
08:16: Continually evil, and you just think okay. Here's a guy who's just like How can I kill more people you know and sending out messages to make that happen that is?
08:25: The very picture of and what's he really doing? He's doing Satan's work in that he is
08:31: Sending people I mean there's no such thing as prematurely, but he's ending the lives of people who you know theoretically otherwise
08:38: Might have the opportunity to repent And Yeah, God raises them up and his power is displayed when he takes them down, but yeah, it's all
08:56: It's all true, but I just wanted to kind of you know there is a balance there. I mean, it's not all It's not all great.
09:03: You know in the sense that We should be holding parties, but I mean I didn't
09:09: I didn't stay up the other night crying so You know there is that balance now on a completely different Matter I don't know how many of you saw this
09:19: Josh McDonald sent this to me in the email in an email the other day the blood of Pope John Paul the second
09:28: But did I mention what his new title is by the way? Since he's been how do they say that word?
09:35: Beatified Which I guess he's means he's on his way to having to write the attitude or something But beatified now he should be called blessed,
09:45: I guess But they've taken a couple vials of his blood, and they put him on display
09:52: In fact I suggested an email back to Josh that maybe we can do a no -co tour over to You know the
09:59: Vatican you know offering people time out of purgatory and indulgences and stuff I I'm just like how kid how can you have something like that and think this is a
10:13: Christian religion? we're gonna go to Rome, and we're gonna go visit a couple vials of blood of a human being and Worship that or you know venerate it or whatever.
10:25: That's just bizarre to me, and it's this whole idea of raising man up Lowering God down, it's just really really bizarre
10:37: Strange who knows what's gonna happen when they decide that he's really a saint But I digress let's open our
10:44: Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 32 When you have a wrong view of God everything else just falls apart.
10:54: That's just the reality of it So we've been studying the names of God Even as I was reading
11:01: Last night this chapter Deuteronomy 32 contains like five or six different references
11:11: I'll forget until we go through it, but to God just different names that he is called So I'm gonna read this and then we're gonna talk about some of the
11:22: Truths contained in here and some of the names that we talked about we've been talking about Yahweh It's just that he is a faithful a promise -keeping
11:30: God Listen to the Word of God Give ear
11:37: Oh heavens, and I will speak this is Moses writing and let the ear Hear the the words of my mouth
11:45: Let the earth hear the words of my mouth and may my teaching drop as the rain my spill
11:51: I speak for a living My speech distil as the dew like gentle rain upon the tender grass and like showers upon the herb for I will proclaim the name of the
12:04: Lord a scribe greatness to our God The rock his work is perfect for all his ways are justice a
12:14: God of faithfulness and without Iniquity just and upright is he they have dealt corruptly with him
12:21: They are no longer his children. This is referring to Israel because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation
12:29: Do you thus repay the Lord you foolish and senseless people is he is not?
12:35: He your father who created you who made you and established you Remember the days of old consider the years of many generations ask your father and he will show you
12:45: Your elders and they will tell you when the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance when he divided mankind
12:52: He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God But the
12:59: Lord's portion is his people Jacob allotted his or Jacob his allotted heritage
13:06: He found him in a desert land and in the howling waste of the wilderness he encircled him
13:12: He cared for him He kept him as the apple of his eye like an eagle that stirs up its nest that flutters over its young Spreading out its wings catching them burying them on its pinions
13:24: And we talked about how that really is a figure of God's protectiveness over his people
13:30: Verse 12 the Lord alone guided him. No foreign God was with him
13:36: He made him ride on the high places of the land and he ate the produce of the field
13:42: And he suckled him with honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock
13:48: Curds from the herd and milk from the flock with fat of lambs rams of Bashan and goats
13:54: With the very finest of the wheat and you drank foaming wine made with or made from the blood of the grape
14:01: But Jeshurun and that's another name for Israel grew fats and kicked you grew fat
14:08: Stout and sleek then he forsook God who made him Then he forsook
14:15: God who made him and scoffed at the rock of his salvation They stirred into jealousy with strange gods with abominations.
14:22: They provoked him to anger They sacrificed to demons that were no gods To gods they had never known to new gods that had come recently whom your father's had never dreaded
14:34: You were mindful of the rock that bore you Or you were unmindful of the rock that bore you and you forgot the
14:41: God who gave you birth The Lord saw it and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and daughters and he said
14:49: I will hide my face from them I will see what their end will be for they are a perverse generation children in whom there is no faithfulness
14:59: They have made me jealous with what is no God They have provoked me to anger with their idols, so I will make them jealous with those who are no people
15:09: I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation for a fire is kindled by my anger and it burns to the depths of Sheol devours the earth and its increase and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains and I will heap disasters upon them.
15:26: I will spend my arrows on them They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence
15:33: I will send the teeth of beasts against them with the venom of things that crawl in the dust
15:39: Outdoors a sword must or shall bereave and indoors terror For young man and woman alike the nursing child with the man of gray hairs
15:49: I would have said I will cut them to pieces I will wipe them from human memory had
15:55: I not feared provocation by the enemy lest their adversaries should Misunderstand lest they should say our hand is triumphant.
16:04: It was not the Lord who did all this Verse 28 for they are a nation void of counsel and there is no understanding in them if they were wise they would understand this
16:15: They would discern their latter end How could one have chased a thousand and two?
16:23: Have and to have put on put ten thousand to flight Unless their rock had sold them and the
16:30: Lord had given them up For their rock is not as our rock. Our enemies are by themselves
16:36: For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah Their grapes are grapes of poison
16:43: Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps
16:51: Is not this? Is not this laid up in store with me sealed up in my treasuries
16:57: Vengeance is mine and recompense for the time when their foot shall slip
17:03: For the day of their calamity is at hand and their doom comes swiftly For the
17:09: Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their power is gone
17:16: And there is none remaining bond or free Then he will say where are their gods?
17:22: The rock in which they took refuge Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering let them rise up and help you
17:31: Let them be your protection See now that I even I am he and there is no
17:38: God beside me. I Kill and I make alive I wound and I heal and there is none that can deliver out of my hand
17:46: For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear as I live forever If I sharpen my flat my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment
17:57: I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh
18:07: With the blood of the slain and the captives from the long -haired heads of the enemy
18:14: Rejoice with him. Oh heavens bow down to him all gods for he avenges the blood of his children and takes
18:21: Vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land
18:28: And we'll stop there this is The God of the
18:35: Old Testament and the God of the New Testament This is the God of Israel and the God of the church
18:42: He allows people as we just read there he allows his own people to Wander from him and what does he do when they do that?
18:55: He does what? He chastises them I mean we read that right there that he chastises them and then when they have
19:02: I think it said no strength left No strength Then he challenges them and restores them
19:10: But We we've been looking at Yahweh and we will move from there and just talk about Some of the different names of God in that passage
19:25: The next one that up is Elohim Elohim and in fact it appears in Deuteronomy 32 in verse 3 verse 15 and verse 17 and people
19:41: For those of you who know Hebrew we have any Hebrew scholars here Keep my hand behind my back
19:50: You know you think I think I'd taken Three semesters of Hebrew and then walked into Hebrew exegesis on a fine fall day
19:58: In fact, I took a Hebrew reading class where you just sit and basically all we did all day long was reading Hebrew and so you
20:05: Walk in the Hebrew exegesis with dr. Barak and I left class the first day and I just looked at one of the other students
20:11: And I go, did you understand anything? He said today and I felt better when he said no, you know
20:19: I don't get it. Help throw me a lifeline Yeah in verse 3 it says ascribe greatness to our
20:31: God in other words It just means to to To What's another word for a scribe
20:39: Just means that we should in our minds and with our mouths. We should assign the
20:45: The attribute of greatness because God is great From the biblical point of view this name properly resents or properly represents
20:57: One only being one who revealed himself to man as creator ruler and Lord It was his own peculiar title and ought to have been confined to him this word
21:12: Hebrew is Hebrew and it has with an idea of Plural it has a plural ending on it.
21:18: Like we would put s on it and People have said well if you look
21:24: At Genesis where it appears, you know in the creation account. This would indicate that it's try and let us
21:33: Go -make man in our own image. So it's the idea of Plurality there, but I think it really is of majesty.
21:40: But listen, he says When he when he says it is was his own peculiar title it's also used of and even in this chapter of Idols of gods of small
21:56: G gods. Why would that be? Because It's the
22:06: Hebrew word for God and you have to look at the context to see whether it refers to The actual
22:12: God who is or the false gods who are just the figments of? imagination but there are other ways other forms of it, there's actually also a
22:23: Singular form that is not the plural form which would be a loa not aloha
22:32: And also the elemental form or the basic form L and Those are simply generic words for deity as we would we would use the word
22:41: God When used by Christians and in Scripture translation is captured is capitalized
22:48: God only when referring to the one true God He says we learn of strange gods in Genesis 35 1 to 4
23:00: When Rachel ran away with her father's Laban's images he demanded his
23:05: Elohim back he wanted his false gods back Jacob who did not regard them as genuine gods deities
23:15: Nevertheless for purposes of communication. He used Laban's words, which were
23:20: Elohim The case is about the same with the word prophets there were genuine prophets and false prophets and the same thing with genuine
23:30: God and the false God Or false gods Elohim is God's title meaning deity
23:37: Jehovah or Yahweh is his personal name in keeping with this people in the scriptures say my
23:43: Elohim But never my Jehovah my Yahweh. It is the
23:49: Elohim of Israel, but never Never the Jehovah of Israel interesting
23:57: Later on in Moses a song there are examples and that is a song by the way There are examples of the use of this word
24:04: Elohim as a courtesy title for heathen deities Non -deities false gods while in fact reserving the title for the
24:11: God of heaven In fact, let's look again at verses 37 to 39 of chapter 32
24:23: Then he will say where are their gods? This is when they have no strength remaining Where are their gods the rock in which they took refuge he's mocking them
24:33: You know, you've trusted in these false gods. You've trusted in things that don't exist and now that your
24:40: Gods have failed you which of course they did they had no power. Anyway He will say where are the where are your gods?
24:48: Where are their gods the rock in which they took refuge? Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering let them rise up and help you
24:57: Let them be your protection. Look you stupid Israelites you worshiped these gods you brought your sacrifices to them.
25:05: You killed animals you offered wine You made all these in fact, I mean during the history of Israel What were some of the things that they sacrificed to these false gods?
25:16: Children they offered up their own children to these false gods And the day will come and certainly
25:25: God caused not a I won't even say aloud because we know from Isaiah that he caused them to be carried away in captivity
25:33: And you know, do you think on that day that they were like? Molech save us
25:40: It's too late those false gods those things that you made out of stone and out of wood can't do anything for you
25:50: And he even says that let them rise up and help you sarcasm Verse 39
25:58: I see now that I even I am he and there is no God beside me I kill and I make alive
26:05: I wounded I healed there is none that can deliver out of my hand I don't know. That sounds like God is in charge.
26:10: It sounds like God's sovereign There's no other God and there's no other
26:15: God who can do what he does so that's
26:25: Elohim and it occurs Hundreds of times and it is the most common word for deity in the
26:32: Old Testament Another one that occurs in this chapter here is the rock
26:42: And rock is a figure of speech used as a name of God again in verses 4 15 18 30 and 31 in Deuteronomy 32.
26:57: I Didn't want to be 32 This is the name for Israel's God and ours ought to be acknowledged that this is ought to be acknowledged various Translation the
27:13: King James the revised standard the American Standard and others
27:19: Capitalized the first letter as in all proper nouns the word means rock
27:25: Cliff or bedrock such as is in a quarry sites
27:31: But that's not really the point the point is when we think of a rock we think of something what steadfast immovable
27:38: I Mean you can't you cannot move it
27:44: It doesn't picture, you know some little rock in the backyard, but a rock thing no matter what you do. You cannot shake it
27:52: He is the rock the source of salvation for sinful people the rock of his salvation verse 15
27:59: David prayed to the rock in Psalm 19 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.
28:07: Oh Lord my rock and my Redeemer The word for rock is exactly the same in Deuteronomy 32 and the word for Redeemer is the same in every way as in It's in Job in each case receiving an initial capital letter as a proper noun
28:27: So this rock is Constantly used and it's also interesting that it refers to the
28:33: Lord in his pre incarnate state Referring to the wilderness journeys of Israel Paul said let's look at 1st
28:43: Corinthians 10 1st Corinthians 10 Because we'll just read that 1st Corinthians 10 verses 1 to 4 and when somebody has that if they would read it, please
28:53: Go ahead
29:03: Gary. No, it's interesting, isn't it?
29:33: What does that tell us about the journey out of? Egypt that they were accompanied by whom the
29:44: Israelites Christ Tells us that right there in 1st
29:52: Corinthians Moses spoke to one earthly rock and And struck another and frustrated anger in each case water came out
30:03: But neither was a rock that followed them That was that was
30:09: Jesus Paul's affirming not only the typical presence of Christ, but the real presence of Christ with Old Testament believers
30:22: Okay Rock is a name for God is the most prominent of several inanimate objects of God's creation which by analogy are employed as a
30:34: Name or name like designations for him. They are all metaphors again. We've talked about the idea of anthropomorphic language that is
30:43: Language that helps us from our humanness understand something that is true about God, you know, it's got literally a rock
30:53: No, but what does it tell us about him that he is? Immovable steadfast
31:00: Reliable and these other metaphors do the same thing He is in Psalm 84 11 called the
31:08: Sun in Psalm 27 1 a light in Revelation 21 23 a lamp in Hebrews 12 29 a fire in fact, not just a fire but a
31:21: Consuming fire our God is a consuming fire Be a great way to start
31:27: Christmas morning morning our God Proverbs 1810 he's called a tower
31:36: I'm always looking for ways to chase people out. I don't know why that is Psalm 91 verse 1
31:42: He's called a shadow and there are many more so again rock though is a
31:48: Pretty consistent name by which he's known in Scripture and certainly there in Deuteronomy 32
31:56: All right another one L L meaning the
32:02: Mighty One The Mighty One this name with or without the definite article as found in Deuteronomy 32 verses 4 1821
32:17: And it usually designates the true God as in verse 4 a God L of Faithfulness and without iniquity just not bright as he this is his own translation
32:28: Sometimes as in verse 12 no foreign God L was with him In fact, let's just look at verse 12 because it it really is interesting.
32:37: We see this kind of Contrast again and again and again in the
32:43: Old Testament Where God and what why do you suppose this is that God would contrast himself with the gods of the people around him
32:55: Around his people Israel. Why do you think God would do that Bruce? You know, what's that's great it's a great point
33:28: I mean they were territorial the gods of different peoples were territorial and then they
33:34: Would make war against Israel and God would defeat them When his people were faithful to him when they relied upon him, but what what did they inevitably do?
33:44: You know, we don't really think we can stop this country. So we're gonna go make a treaty with Egypt We don't really think we can stop this people.
33:52: So we're gonna worship their gods We don't really think we don't really think they didn't trust him over and over and over again.
33:57: That was the nature of what they did But if we see during the or in the
34:04: Old Testament What he does is he compares himself with these other gods and even today The gods of the peoples around Israel mostly the
34:15: God of Islam Allah And I would just say that verse 12
34:25: You know, no foreign God would be right but they are God He is a God Allah is a
34:31: God with no power. In other words. He's a God small G a God who doesn't exist except for in the figments of you know in the imaginations of his followers verse 12 says the look the
34:42: Lord alone guided him talking about leading them out of Egypt through the
34:47: Promised Land The Lord alone guided him no foreign God was with him. He wants them to know
34:55: That it he is the only God who exists and that is the consistent theme of the Old Testament And as I said last week he opens up in Deuteronomy 32 he opens up with this phrase here
35:10: Give ear O heavens and I will speak let the earth Hear the words of my mouth and then he it's kind of like a trial
35:17: I'm gonna usher forth all the evidence against my people Israel. Why do you think he appeals to the heavens and the earth as Witnesses basically because that's what they are
35:28: They're gonna be like the actually I would call them more of a jury than anything else Why do you think that is?
35:37: The answer is found in Genesis it says in the beginning God created The heavens and the earth the oldest things that God created.
35:47: He says listen you guys He's giving them sort of a personality the heavens and the earth
35:54: Existed before man was existed before anything else existed and I'm gonna call them as witnesses and then bring my evidence before them and they are the heavens and the earth again, having no imagination or thought capability, but They're not in rebellion against God it's his people who can think that are but L the
36:20: Mighty One In Exodus 34 verses 6 and 7
36:27: X or L is used with a whole constellation of names for God and Name like objectives.
36:33: Just listen to this the Lord a God a Mighty One Merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands
36:46: Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty
36:52: Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation
37:00: That picture right there is without parallel in Scripture That's God the
37:07: Mighty One That's that encompasses a lot of who he is I want to say all but it's not all but he's merciful gracious slow to anger bounding and steadfast love and faithfulness
37:19: But he's also he also will by no means clear the guilty and he punishes sin
37:26: So that's L the Mighty One. Now, let's look at father And that appears in Deuteronomy 32 verse 6 is he not
37:40: How's it say it here I should get them Is he not your father in the second part of verse 6?
37:49: Is he not your father who created you who made you and established you But it's interesting unlike say the rock it is not capitalized there and He goes on to say here he says only the
38:04: NASB of standard English versions capitalizes father here
38:10: Moses was referring to the fact that their God like a father who begets his child Had brought them into existence as a people thus calling them to remembrance
38:19: Or calling to remembrance all their past history from Abraham onward. I Think it's fine to call them father in fact or call him father.
38:29: In fact in Isaiah 63 16 God has called father twice
38:37: And in fact, he's called a father more loyal than Abraham So it's fine it just so happens in this case not to Refer to the father of all creation, but to the father specifically of Israel Opening he notes that the opening verses of 19 of the epistles the letters of the
38:58: New Testament Referred trustingly to God in this way that he's a father And I like this and we'll probably close here today some of the latest generations
39:07: Listen to what Culver says here some of the latest generations of scholars and their students Have difficulty accepting the fatherhood of God Regarding it as a sexist anthropomorphism
39:24: Earlier modernists promoted the idea as the very crowning contribution of Christianity in other words.
39:31: It was a good thing He says obviously God is not a literal father in the sense that he has literal progeny
39:42: But he says In the in the Bible there are many terms that are used to describe
39:48: God a physician a shepherd a farmer a carpenter an architect And a soldier we do not capitalize farmers, so there's no problem with them.
39:57: Not you know capitalizing father here We don't capitalize Architect or soldier so that's not the that's not the issue, but this idea of Father being
40:12: Sexist anthropomorphism that is you know it rooted in some kind of Ancient Concept that really is no longer applicable to us
40:25: Therefore we should refer to God as our heavenly parents or even some translations as You know our heavenly mother, or you know that kind of thing, but what about that?
40:37: Why is it that God is referred to as our father? Pam says because Jesus said pray to your father who is in heaven right
40:52: Gary Okay because Jesus referred to him as father
40:58: Just sit go ahead Okay because he's the head of the family of God true
41:27: Yeah, let's in fact let's look at first Peter Chapter 1
41:49: Starting verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy.
41:56: He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is
42:03: Imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation
42:12: Ready to be revealed in the last time Now when we think about God we think about someone who is powerful when we think about a father we think about someone who is
42:21: Powerful, I mean our moms, and this is Mother's Day our moms are our
42:27: Tend to be more nurturing. I mean they're certainly powerful in their own way I mean I like to say this that you know when you become a mom you get superpowers
42:36: You know why that is because like I carry what's that Eyes in the back of your head, that's definitely true, but you know also if I carry a little baby after about five minutes.
42:47: I'm going Now just think about what moms do you know typical picture of a mom is you know she's cooking or she's ironing or vacuuming
42:56: She's always you know she's got one baby in her arm probably another on her back and another dragging on her leg
43:01: And this is just what they do all day long You just go how can she do that you know a 10 -pound sack of flour is too much for but she can carry four kids
43:10: I don't know what But but put that aside you know a father is what he's he's kind of the
43:20: The the physical strength I guess you could almost call it the heroic strength, but look at this a little bit later in this chapter here
43:32: Again verse 17 and if you call on him as father who judges impartially to each one's deeds
43:38: Conduct yourself with fear throughout the time of your exile listen our father is somebody that we fear
43:47: You say well, I don't want to fear God well fearing God is the beginning of wisdom, but it's also.
43:52: It's it's it's not fear in the sake of Trembling it's fear in the second sake in the sense of respect in understanding who he is and the main reason we call father our father in heaven we call him father is because As you said
44:10: Jesus said that but to take it a step further. It's how God wants to be known He gives us this kind of anthropomorphic language so that we can understand him better like rock like mighty one like Covenant keeping
44:25: God you know when we're talking about Yahweh or we're talking about L we're talking about these different words, and what they mean and By the way the word for rockets is sewer, and I knew that would bless you so I want to say that But listen the doesn't bless you at all, but but the idea being that God Cannot perfectly reveal himself to us in the sense that we can know everything about him because we're finite
44:50: He's infinite so what he does is he gives us these pictures of things that we do understand
44:55: So that we can understand him a little bit better so that we can have a better comprehension of what he's like so when he says father he means
45:04: Father not parents not mother he means father and so when someone says well
45:09: He's not really father you have to understand that in the patriarchal. You know and anachronistic kind of Old school way that it's just totally out of date.
45:20: It doesn't apply anymore God hasn't changed his nature hasn't changed the way he wants to be
45:28: Revealed or spoken about has not changed Those who want to change it are those who want to worship another
45:36: God I got of their own creation And let us not ever do that So we'll briefly talk about God a little bit more about his names
45:48: We'll talk about God a lot more next week But we have one or two other names to discuss briefly next week, and then we'll move on to the next topic
45:56: But let it's important that we think about God rightly yes, daddy That's right daddy says you know he has the attributes of a father that he has pity for us
46:16: He has compassion for us. He thinks like a father This is this is exactly how he wants to be
46:23: Known and this is how he presents himself in Scripture and to think otherwise to think that we ought to attribute other thoughts to God other than What he has given us father rock mighty one
46:38: Covenant keeper, you know all these different attributes and the way he describes himself is just wrong
46:44: It's just wrong. We never see God say think of me as your mom He doesn't say that and And it really would be yeah
46:53: Harry Yeah, I that's exactly right out of Hebrews where he disciplines his children.
47:12: I mean, I'll tell you what I cannot imagine I mean my my mom was
47:18: She was tough in her own way I mean she was only 5 '3", but she was pretty tough my dad was 6 '7", and just the scariest guy
47:25: I ever knew in my life But it wasn't that he was mean or nasty or that he you know did anything horrible to me it's just he was dead and he was gigantic and There there needs to be a right thinking about it.
47:40: There's just a difference. There's always a difference between a mom and a dad and That's good
47:46: But yeah, we we just need to have that picture again of the discipliner of one who is to be
47:55: Respected and feared and thought highly of and that doesn't mean that moms aren't to be thought highly of it's just that they're different and It's exactly the picture that God would have us have of him.
48:06: Well, let's pray Our Father in heaven Lord we delight that you have revealed us or revealed yourself to us that we might know you
48:16: That you have given us these pictures of you these characteristics of you these descriptions of you that we might be able to Know you better that we might be able to worship you better that we might appreciate you more fear you more love you more
48:34: God would you increase our love for you every day even as we think of you as our rock and our
48:39: Redeemer and our covenant -keeping God and the mighty one who is able to save who is able to Take hearts of stone and turn them into hearts of flesh
48:51: Father would you bless each one here? Would you bless our worship here today? Would you bless our fellowship and our times here together as we look to you our