Becoming Better Theologians (part 29)

Father in heaven we thank you this morning.

That you are a loving God that you are a saving God and that you would deign to Save such as us.

Father I pray that as we look to your word this morning what you've told us about yourself that we would just rejoice and

Just be transfixed by your glory by your mercy and by your love in Christ name.

We pray amen.

Well, I thought I might start.

I really do want to make a smarter.

Mark Schaefer sent me something this morning.

I thought you know this is interesting because You're not

Intelligent if you believe in the Bible, that's what the world says, right?

This is what the scientists have come up with and I think this is just spectacular.

I'm sure you'll agree with me.

This was from this week the Washington Post.

Researchers shed light on source of Earth's water.

That's not easy to say.

Now here's the article it says.

Water is everywhere on earth, but nobody is able been able to determine conclusively how it got here.

Scientists know that the early earth was far too hot to hold water or water vapor.

But then in relatively short geological time the oceans appeared.

Aren't we lucky?

In a discovery that researchers say sheds important new light on that age -old question a

European team Reported Thursday that it has found a very cold reservoir of water vapor in

space that could explain where the water came from.

The region they discovered is at the outer reaches outer reaches of a dusty disk surrounding a

star 175 light -years away.

Yeah, the scientists conclusion from the new finding and this is where you know, you really get smart.

Life giving water almost certainly was almost certainly delivered to earth via comets and asteroids.

Known to originate in these cold but water filled zones, which were assumed to also be present when

our solar system was forming.

This is the scientist saying this he says our observations of this cold cold vapor.

Indicate enough water exists in the disk to fill thousands of earth oceans.

Scientists have long and this is him again scientists have long suspected that there were these reservoirs of cold water vapor

hiding in the outer Regions of planet forming disks, but now we've only found signs of

water vapor until now.

We've only found signs of water vapor in hot regions closer to the Sun's.

Blah blah blah blah the logical extension He said is that the water has also been delivered to some of the

billions of exoplanets known to exist beyond our solar system.

Meaning that there are likely to be many ocean worlds throughout the galaxies.

Moving on here the earth formed 4 .5 billion years ago.

They have concluded and then was too close to the Sun to hold much water or water vapor.

But around 4 .1 billion years ago a period of heavy bombardment.

When earth was pummeled by comets and cold meteorites both of which carry water from the outer.

Anyway, that's that's all that happened in case you were ever wondering how we got water here on the planet there you have it conclusively

eyewitness accounts.

I Just read then I'm going that is just

so dopey I don't want to believe in a God who's you know who created all things and established the

oceans or anything I got what I'd like to believe is that the earth you know formed as a hot rock

and You know was then bombarded by asteroids and whatnot that were

filled with water gee how to sell which is more

likely Genesis 1 or Asteroids and what was the last time we had an asteroid hit the world by the way that was

filled with water.

I?

Don't know, but there's your news for the day news that you can use.

We're gonna get back to our Theology here today, I've had enough

fun here for over the last few weeks we started talking about the attributes of God,

and I'm gonna get back to that today, and We didn't get too far.

You know can God be defined things like that, but today.

We're gonna start asking this question.

Can God's essence be made known.

Can we know?

God's essence His Substance as it were

and of course mr.. Culver answers that question for us.

He says God is not noble in his essence except as he has seen fit to reveal himself

in various ways.

So we're not gonna.

You know I mean, what's what's the truth about God?

We can know God, but we can't know everything about him.

Why can't we know everything about him just kind of review?

Because we're not like him because he's infinite.

I mean, that's a that's a great Response basically we are finite.

He is infinite.

We cannot grasp him.

We'll never be able to grasp all that he is.

How do we know something about God?

He revealed it to us in his truth in his word or what we would call specific revelation.

How else do we know about God?

Through creation through general revelation is what we would call it.

We talked last year about Way back in the recesses of your mind.

We talked last year about some people saying that there is enough information in

General creation to actually drive people to Christ to actually save someone.

Anybody remember who would say that?

Someone lost also known also known as a Roman Catholic theologian would say that sort of thing that there's enough

information in general revelation to To save someone and

again, why do we know that that's not right?

What scripture could we look at and say?

Well, it's it's that's not gonna work.

Okay, which would be Romans?

Romans 10 verse 9 and then Romans 1 is also true, right?

Those are the flip sides.

We need to hear the Word of God and Romans 1 says that people know about God they observe

His power they see his wisdom and just the way he set things up and yet what do they do with that information?

They suppress it.

They hold it down.

He goes on to say there is a general awareness that God is great good wise.

And this has really been driven home for me this question here.

He says otherwise why the fear of meeting him in judgments.

Why the fear of meeting him in judgment, you know for those of you don't know my dad was back in the hospital this week and

There was a genuine fear on his part that he was going to die now, I don't know I haven't been able to talk to him yet.

Since it appears now that he won't you know to see if he's had any kind of epiphany.

But Death is all around us death is a reality and sometimes when people as they get closer when they recognize that they're

going to die.

There's a sense in which they suddenly realize whatever they've thought before.

They know there's something else coming and they're afraid.

We'll see.

We also know God's attributes as they are stated and described in Scripture.

However, this knowledge is not complete.

It's not exhaustive.

We just know that what we have in Scripture is enough to what.

What is Scripture sufficient for?

What's that?

Condemning us, right?

I Mean there's enough actually and even general revelation to condemn us but in in

Scripture.

What why do we know that we have enough information about God?

It's perfect.

Scripture tells us that what it is sufficient for everything pertaining to Life and godliness, so we

have everything that we need all the information that we need about God.

But He makes a good point here.

The attributes are not now.

This is gonna be this might seem a little convoluted.

So we'll Go over it a little bit.

God's attributes are not parts of his essence in other words.

You don't take all the various attributes put them all together and go, okay, that is the essence of

God.

Why not?

What's that?

He's incomprehensible and Since we don't really do well here we go true or

false.

We know all the attributes of God.

We've already kind of ruled that out, right?

So the answer is no.

So we even if we could exhaustively draw All the attributes of God out of the

Bible and put them all together and go, okay, here's the pyramid here it is.

And now I have this complete picture of who God is and the answer would still be no you

don't.

He's bigger than that.

He's greater than that.

He's more than As it were the sum of his Attributes you can't say

parts because you can't divide God.

There's no division there.

God is not essence and attributes but in attributes cover

says We understand part of him now, how are God's

attributes related to him?

And here's where we're gonna get to the Bible here another problem frequently discussed from earlier Christian times has been.

How are the attributes related to God

and he says he goes on to say that God is you know?

Like there are many people in the human race when we say mankind we understand that that's a massive

quantity that would be called a genus or a species of.

Being well is God part of a species is

God part of a genus unlike.

You know our Mormon friends who would say that there are an infinite number of gods.

We talked about that last week.

There is only one God and you know what?

Let's let's look at Isaiah 43.

You want to talk about a section of Scripture that just kind of blows away any idea

that there could be another God.

That there could be more than one.

Isaiah chapter 43 and this whole section we're really

God is comparing himself to the idols of all the nations.

Around there and just saying listen, there is no other God.

Isaiah 43 11.

I Am the Lord and besides me.

There is no Savior.

Isaiah 44 6.

Thus says the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts.

I am the first and I am the last besides me.

There is no God.

Verse 8.

Fear not nor be afraid.

Have I not told you from of old and declared it and you are my witnesses.

There is no or he asked a question.

Is there a God besides me?

There is no rock.

I know not any 45 5 I Am the Lord

and there is no other besides me.

There is no God.

I equip you though.

You do not know me.

Isaiah 45 6.

That people may know from the rising of the Sun and from the West that there is none

besides me.

I am the Lord and there is no other.

Isaiah 45 21.

Declare and present your case.

Let them take counsel together.

Who told this long ago who declared it of old was it?

Not I the Lord and there is no other God besides me a righteous God and a Savior.

There is none besides me.

Isaiah 47 verse 8.

Now therefore hear this you lover of pleasures who sits securely who say in your heart.

I am there is no one besides me.

I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children, or I'm sorry.

Let let me just say it this way who say who say in your heart I am and there is no one besides me.

I shall not sit as a widow or nor the loss of children.

I Don't know how that fits in there.

I think that's just a different translation.

Let's read 47 10.

You felt secure in your wickedness.

You said no one sees me your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray and you said in your heart I am and there is no one

besides me.

And so there the people are saying, you know, nobody knows but there is one Who knows it's God.

It's always God.

God knows everything.

God is everywhere and there is no.

There is no other.

He goes on Culver does he just he says look.

He says a chair may be said to be a piece of furniture composed of a seat back four legs and designed for

seat for sitting.

But God may not be described in such a way.

Again getting to the idea that you can't take his component parts put them together and go.

Okay, that is God.

He says the attributes of God are like him.

In fact, there are more than or they are more than like him because they are identical with his being.

They do not conceal what in who he is, but rather reveal him.

The attributes are what God is in some meaningful way.

They are identical with God's essence.

And are not personifications as in polytheism and medieval Jewish speculation.

So what's he saying here?

He's saying that we know God by describing his attributes by looking at his attributes,

but that's not all that he is.

It just means that for example, he discusses righteousness and he says Righteousness is an aspect

of God's being.

God is righteous.

God seen from a certain perspective all of God in That aspect or perspective and so on

for every biblical statement about God what the Bible says.

Or when the Bible says that God is righteous.

It means all of God.

God in every respect is righteous every positive attribute of God.

In here's of all of them in all of them.

In other words, his love is righteous.

His justice is righteous.

Every part of him is righteous and then you could go on and say his love is Just his mercy is just

and all these kind of all of them are true about each other all the positive attributes.

Now this is an easy question.

Do words apply to God?

Mean the same as when they are applied to human beings.

Do words applied to God mean the same when we apply them to people.

No, why not?

Brian said pride.

Peggy,

right?

We we try to do something we

We work at being holy or we try to be righteous or we try to be just or we try to be

loving or.

We work on all these things.

And you know what really our focus is on what one or two things at a time.

I'm going to be a better husband.

I'm gonna be more loving in the way.

I talked to my wife.

I'm going to be am I confessing we work.

We work on you know.

We we just kind of set our minds and we fix on one thing.

But God doesn't.

God isn't anything like that.

Why because he is all of his attributes all the time constantly

without effort.

Now there is a sense or he's talking about he says there is a partial correspondence.

There's a way that we can relate.

We might say if somebody he is.

That man really knows how to keep his tongue or that man is self -controlled or that man is Whatever he is

or that woman is, you know godly or however, we say it and we might think you know in a

certain Sense they sort of reflect God, but how do they do that?

They do it imperfectly and they do it by the grace of God even as Brian and Peggy were saying

Pam.

Yeah, that's a great point.

I mean God's attributes are inherent.

They are who he is and anything we have.

How did you say it?

Would be derived from him.

There are a blessing from him.

So that's exactly right.

Now, how do the attributes of God relate to one another?

Mentioned that a little bit but he develops it a little further how the attributes related to one another holiness to love mercy

omnipotence.

To infinity and time and place and so on is one attributes.

More important to sound sound theology Than another.

I hear some nose.

Well, so what Culver says he says there is a considerable variance of views.

Why would there be why would be there?

Why would be there why would there be a difference of views.

Among theologians.

Steve Nelson,

okay.

Absolutely.

Pam says well, what about holiness?

You know.

Can we not place that before all of his attributes and say that that's the overriding one if we look at Isaiah 6.

What do we see?

Holy?

Holy?

Holy?

Why?

To emphasize the holiness of God we never see in the Bible.

You know, God is love love love.

God is just just just we do see God is love.

What we don't see is, you know.

What what people tend to practice in the Christian Church today or in evangelical churches?

They tend to say love is God, you know.

They make that one -to -one correspondence.

God is love therefore love is God that we have love is all there is.

Yeah, Charlie,

right.

We are not absolutely not.

Equally or we do not equally receive God's attributes all of us.

Do not some of us will receive his will all receive his justice as Charlie said, but we'll receive it in

Different ways those who are in Christ will receive I guess you could say that the

Justice of his mercy while those who are not in Christ will receive the justice of his wrath.

And certainly those who are not saved do not receive his love in the same way.

They receive a general sort of love, but they don't receive his specific his saving love.

But there is a there is a difference in views.

No one can read Leviticus and Isaiah or Ezekiel without reserving or without observing the

emphasis on holiness.

And so he says well, let's leave that question open at the stage and he wants to move on so we'll move on.

What is the meaning of a Phrase that we probably don't use too often the simplicity of God's

being.

He's gonna explain this.

Orthodox theologians generally affirm that the being or substance of God is simple.

What do you think he means by that?

I'll take that.

What what is the meaning of the simplicity of God's being.

Charlie,

okay.

He's always simple in the extreme of his attributes.

Other thoughts before I give you the definition.

He's immutable.

Okay, he cites

bobbing here and he says.

Every attribute is identical with God's being by reason of the fact that every one of God's virtues is

absolutely perfect in God.

Interesting we haven't really mentioned the perfection of God.

Let me say that one more time.

Every attribute is identical with God's being by reason of the fact that

every one of God's virtues is absolutely perfect in God and That gets back to what I was saying

earlier, you know when we when we say God is holy.

We mean that well, we mean a lot of things.

He's other Lee.

He is perfect.

He's without sin.

He's different than us if we say that God is just he is absolutely perfect in his justice.

We say that God is love.

We mean that God is perfect in his love.

He is perfect in every single attributes.

There is no I guess we could say there's no shadow.

There's no attribute of God where we go.

Well, he's 99 .9 % fill -in -the -blank.

It's always perfection.

Father Son and Holy Spirit the triune God are not three parts of God.

I'm gonna be talking about that tonight.

Not three parts of God the three persons of the Trinity are one simple

Divine essence we do not divine the substance of God.

The nature of God is common to the three persons in the Godhead.

But they are not communicated from one to the other they each partake of them and possess them as one.

Divided or undivided nature.

Sorry one undivided nature in other words all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in

Christ and So also in the Holy Spirit and so also in the Father.

The attributes of course are each the whole undivided divine apps.

Essence viewed in a particular way or in relation to differing objects.

In other words same thing.

He's been saying, but why would we ever want to?

Classify the divine attributes.

Why would theologians want to classify the divine attributes and some of you might say so they have a job.

Otherwise, what would they do?

Well, I think there are at least what are some classifications that you've heard maybe of the attributes of God.

I Think there's what there's one, you know set of Classifications that I think

I've heard fairly frequently.

Anybody think of any?

Okay, communicable and incommunicable, which means what you know, if you have a communicable

disease.

Yeah, and if you have an incommunicable disease then I'll give you a hug because you're you're fine, you know.

But here's what here's what people typically say, you know, they're Hacking and coughing and you know, the nose

all red from sneezing all day and they go.

I don't think it's catchy really I

digress.

But communicable and incommunicable meaning.

Not like a disease because an attribute of God is not a disease.

But how do we how would we say something as communicable or incommunicable?

He's able to impute it to a creature.

Can you think of an.

An incommunicable attribute of God something that we cannot possess.

Okay creator.

Perfection self -existence is a great one.

I Will never stand up here and say of myself I am that I am yeah.

All right, it's it's incommunicable.

Omniscience omnipresence.

Although, you know, I I always liked what I?

My kids like I liked him to think that I was omniscience.

Remember once I caught one of them, you know go to a movie and boy that was fun.

They were it was a movie.

They weren't supposed to go see so Supposed to be somewhere else entirely and dad caught him.

How does he do that?

I don't know.

It's I Have my ways.

Yeah, Charlie.

Like would sovereignty be considered in other words the fact that we have a will that we have volition that we make

choices would that be a reflection An extract a portion

of God's sovereignty.

I don't know.

What do you think?

Harry

I mean, I I would have a hard time saying I I would say that.

Yeah, I I would say the fact that we make choices Is not necessarily a reflection of God's sovereignty.

I think there are communicable.

What are some communicable attributes?

Holiness right, but and we have to keep in mind that again, we're not gonna manifest any of these perfectly,

you know, so.

Because whatever we get is derived from God or is directly attributable to him.

You know some other attributes that we would have are well

Imputed righteousness.

Yeah, I don't know.

Other things that you know, I I think maybe Love would be one.

But again, these are not things that you know, I mean if we think about God's love I mean, here's an amazing thought

because Is God capable of loving and hating a person at the same time?

Yes, and you know, that's something it's tough to wrap our minds around because that's just not how we are.

And you know, I need go no further than Facebook to figure out that there are people who you know Set their

affections on people and people who hate people and there you know, there really isn't it.

You know, I love him, but I hate him.

Well, no, you don't you you you're either one or the other.

But God hates sinners and yet Loves them enough not to damn them

immediately and for some he said his eternal Affection on them and he's just

in time going to bring that about.

Here's what he says about the classification of divine attributes he says this will really

This will set you thinking the Reformers were Disgusted with the fruitless efforts of

late medieval scholastics to explain essence and attributes and sterile controversies

about them.

Hence Calvin has a single chapter on the Trinity three on God's unity and spirituality.

But there is nothing like any effort to organize the biblical references to attributes.

Why do you think that would be

it's limitless, but I think to what you know If we look at the Reformers, what are they where are they focused on?

Justification by faith or the gospel right and what had been happening.

I mean, I hate it.

I hated it in seminary when we had to read Not Augustine, but what's the other guy it starts with an a

Aquinas.

Aquinas, I think would would be at the heart of His kind of thinking would be at the heart

of what the Reformers would just kind of go enough of that.

You know how many literally how many angels can dance on the head of a pin and all these kind of?

Infinitesimal arguments that don't amount to anything.

Nothing, they don't help us to understand God in the slightest.

They're absolutely of no value at all and He goes on to say that

Melanchthon wrote a book That discussed the Trinity and unity of

the Godhead, but has nothing specifically in attributes.

And So they weren't really big on that one search is almost in vain for a satisfactory

history of classifications and then you have Bovink who wrote a book

called the doctrine of God.

Bovink in common with most Orthodox authors puts or places

a saiyyadee of God's being as being primary.

Now, what does a saiyyadee if I'm saying it right or it could be a saiyyadee I don't know.

I think it's a saiyyadee.

Anybody know what that is?

Let me spell it.

It's a s e i t y

and it's Latin and it means or the Latin in root and it means from

out of self or Self -existence it refers to God's self existence.

So again when we if we were to look at it Exodus 3 14, you know Moses says who shall I say has sent me and

God says I Am.

You know tell him I am sent you.

And then again in John 8 58 Jesus says I am that I am they all pick up stones.

I want to kill him.

And he says that that is central.

Though he calls a saiyyadee and attributes He means to say that it is in a class by

itself prior to the other attributes and Culver agrees.

Why?

Why would he say that that is the primary attribute of God?

Yeah, you can't be anything.

Yeah, I'll use the wrong tense, too you can't do anything unless you Be to be

unless you are which he says God says I am and you know, we think about Some of the

things he says even in Isaiah when he's describing his own Existence and he says look

I I give and What I lose no energy, I mean there's no end to God's energy

he doesn't diminished when he does something.

There's another prophetic reference where it says that his power is

Or the Sun is the the hiding or the shadow of his power you know

God is infinitely powerful and He is self existence his.

He never loses any of his.

I mean he sustains everything and there's never any of it that is gone.

It's never you know, I was I'm not as good as I used to be.

God continually is and he never loses any of it.

He says that it is only because these attributes pertain to God in an absolute altogether unique

Sense that they are divine attributes hence in that respect a saiyyadee absolute essence being

May be called the primary attribute of God.

Bobbing says this we must therefore assume affirm God's a saiyyadee.

That there is nothing above him.

Hence wisdom grace love etc are identical with his being.

Bobbing is saying attributes are attributes of something.

They are attributes of an essential being.

So The attributes in here in God's being that he is absolutely

Perfect and he is ongoing now.

There are Different ways of

viewing the attributes of God and I'm going to give you a few of them here.

The way of affirmation or looking at them positively.

We see the perfections or the excellencies of God in nature and in ourselves.

Intelligence for example, right why why is God

Reflected in human beings.

Well, first of all because we're Reasonably intelligent to varying degrees.

Of course, we do stupid things, but It's Sinful things.

But we're intelligence.

You know, I always find it fascinating that they're trying to prove that you know.

This dolphin or that monkey or this dog, you know is almost as smart as people.

Answer intelligence.

Really, you know and I just go hey if the whales are so smart how many cities that they build.

But You know as we reflect God we can just think okay if we're able to do this and we're

smart.

How much more smart how much more intelligent is he?

He goes on to say we cannot conceive of God.

Otherwise, and if there were not a single specific Bible verse Affirming

God is intelligent.

We would affirm it as Christians.

Because he's greater than us and if he's greater than us and we're intelligent then how much more intelligent is he?

That sustains us that keeps everything together that has planned this all out.

Even as Harry was saying from the beginning, so that would be a way of affirmation a positive way of framing

things.

Another way then the way of negation.

We reflect on the finiteness and imperfections of all creation hence we infer

immensity infinity immutability and the like to God why.

Because as we look and what we see is finite then we go.

Well, there must be something bigger than that.

So that it would be infinite.

We see everything changing around us and we presume that there must be something that does not change and that would be God.

So this is kind of the and to me this sounds kind of Roman Catholic.

And I he's just giving us the different ways of doing this.

However.

Look at this.

The Bible sets a standard for negative statements about God.

For example, let's look at James 117

because these these are pretty interesting statements about God and James 117 and what somebody has that what

they read it, please.

Go ahead.

Casey

okay, so what.

What attribute of God would we get out of that passage?

I'm sorry.

Well, you could frame it as his sovereignty.

I mean, there's a more specific term that's used.

Steve.

Immutability is correct.

Give that man a Free donut,

so that would be one and and what does he say?

He doesn't say God is immutable.

He says what the God does not change.

Look at Hebrews 6 18.

So there is a way of looking at God's attributes in a negative way to understand what it is.

We are to understand about him

Hebrews 6 18 who has that go ahead Bob.

Okay, if it is impossible for God to lie, then he is a god of truth.

Okay, and if we looked at first Timothy 6 16

We would see that he is Alone immortal which would give us the idea that what he cannot

die.

And so there are ways that.

Because that's what it means.

He cannot die or To put it positively we would say that he is deathless that

he it is impossible for him to experience death.

And then there's another way of framing God's attributes the way of eminence.

These perfections we see about us, especially in human beings we refer to.

Or we infer to be also existing in an infinite degree in God.

We refer to this as God's image in his creatures.

Mentioned that a little bit if we have love for one another then God's love Would exist in an infinite way in a

more perfect way in a fully perfect way and he loves in ways that we cannot.

So that would be the ultimate way of looking at it.

Calvin after asserting in that quote in his essence God is incomprehensible

went on to say Quotes, but upon his individual works.

He has engraved unmistakable marks of his glory.

Therefore the Prophet very aptly exclaims that he is Quote clad with light

as with a garment.

What does he say that you know that he's?

Dressed that he's robed.

With light as with a garment.

What does that do when we read that sort of thing?

He wraps himself in light as with a garment.

What does that mean?

What does that conjure up for us.

Gives us a picture of God as a being of light.

Perfection as stated earlier the

attributes of God have been classified both positively negatively and Then communicable and

incommunicable.

Relative to other things and absolute transitive and intransitive.

Metaphysical and moral all these different ways that they can be explained.

He says no one as far as I know thought of classifying the attributes in this a seventh way here.

Here's how Alva J McLean? Described them as

great attributes and good attributes.

But he says by whatever terms they are designated all the attributes of God fall into these

two classes of great and good in theological writing whether the theological writer be

Roman Catholic Reformed Lutheran or other Orthodox Writer this arrangement seems

to be kind of an ecumenical consensus.

Let's see, we'll just finish up here systematic theology

can never be simple proof texting however important.

Or however important biblical documentation of beliefs and religions must always be for Christians.

Let's look at just a few of these Affirmations first, I'll just do one right here

easy.

What what do we know about God?

John 4 24.

God is Spirit right?

He doesn't have a physical body.

He goes secondly Deuteronomy 439 let's go there.

Let's look at Deuteronomy 439 since we probably won't all have committed that to her.

How many of you have memorized Deuteronomy 439 this week is your scripture memory verse?

So it's good to look at this one who has Deuteronomy 439.

Okay, Brian, go ahead

again, this idea that there is no other God and You know it we were in Isaiah

earlier.

It's just fascinating that whole section there between 40 and Basically 47

is kind of when that when that ends maybe 48 it goes to.

But just talking about again and again again that there is no other God and that there can be no other God.

Okay, what does that do to the people who think that they might become a God?

I think it sort of shoots that all on the foot.

But there you have it again the Lord is in heaven above and I'm beyond the earth or and on

the earth beneath.

There is no other.

Thirdly 2nd Chronicles 2 5.

2nd Chronicles 2 5.

And this is an important one for.

At least one good reason that I can think of right off the top of my head.

2nd Chronicles 2 5 who is that?

Go ahead Charlie.

Now.

Do you suppose there that he's saying that there are other gods?

No.

Let me just answer that emphatically.

No, why is he saying that?

Because there are all these surrounding gods all around the Israelites and everybody considers them a god and he wants to say

lick whatever you believe about.

These other so -called deities our God is the greatest and in fact, we would see over and over again that there

are no other gods.

Fourthly.

Oh give.

Thanks to the Lord for he is good.

Where's the Bible say that?

Anybody know what book that would be in.

Oh give.

Thanks to the Lord for he is good.

Psalms.

Psalm 107 he is good.

Fifthly the name of the the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28 19.

And he says each of these scriptural captions is used as a heading for each of the Chapters

immediately to follow so that's what we'll be doing for the next several weeks as we talk about God's attributes

both good and great and we will close there as we just study and

focus and think about How awesome God is it's good for us to be reminded.

That his ways are not our ways and that he's far above us Father in heaven.

We thank you for this time as we've looked to your word as we've seen what you have Revealed to us about yourself father.

I pray that in the weeks to come even as we consider Your goodness your holiness your righteousness

your love your mercy your justice your Power

your aseity.

All the things that are true and that are presented to us in your word father that we would not think boy.

This is some dry academic study, but that we would think this is the God who is who?

In spite of or because of.

Actually because of all that he is Would send his son to

redeem a sinful unholy Ungrateful people and to make them

grateful to him to so transform their hearts that they would love and worship him.

That you would take us from haters of you to lovers.

That is incredible power.

Not in a physical sense, but in a metaphysical in a spiritual sense.

You are a great God and there is none beside you and Lord.

We just praise you it just pray that the rest of this day would be to your glory and honor in Christ's name.

We pray amen.