1. GOD AS SPIRIT THE AIM OF THIS BOOK is to ascertain and state in systematic form what the Bible teaches. The method pursued will be to first give the Scripture statements, and then summarize their contents in a proposition, following the proposition with comments when necessary.

I. GOD IS SPIRIT. John 4:24 . "God is (a) Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

Proposition: God is Spirit.

QUESTION: What is spirit?

ANSWER: Luke 24:39 — "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." A spirit is incorporeal, invisible reality. To say God is spirit is to say God is incorporeal and invisible. (Compare Deuteronomy 4:15-18.)

QUESTION: What does it mean, then, when it says in Genesis 1:27, "God created man in his own image"?

The answer to this question is plain in the following passages: Colossians 3:10 — "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Ephesians 4:23-24 "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness." Colossians 1:15 — "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." (Compare to 1 Timothy 1:27) The words "image" and "likeness" evidently do not refer to visible or bodily likeness, but to intellectual and moral likeness — likeness "in knowledge," "righteousness," and "holiness of truth."

II. THE MANIFESTATION OF SPIRIT IN VISIBLE FORM. John 1:32 — "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him." Hebrews 1:7 — "And of the angels he saith, who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire."

Proposition: That which is spirit may manifest itself in visible form.

III. GOD MANIFESTED IN VISIBLE FORM. Exodus 24:9-10 — "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu: and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness."

Proposition: God has in times past manifested himself in visible form.

IV. WHAT WAS SEEN IN THESE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD? John 1:18 — "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him." Exodus 33:18-23 — "And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live.

And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a deft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen."

First Proposition: What was seen in these manifestations of God was not God himself — God in his invisible essence — but a manifestation of God.

QUESTION: IS there any contradiction between Exodus 24:9-10 ("Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel"), Isaiah 6:1 ("In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple"), and John 1:18 ("No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him")?

ANSWER: None whatever. To illustrate: A man may see the reflection of his face in a glass. It would be true for the man to say "I saw my face," and also true to say "I never saw my face." So men have seen a manifestation of God, and it is true to say those men saw God. No man ever saw God as he is in his invisible essence, and so it is perfectly true to say, "No man hath seen God at any time."

Under this head of manifestations of God belongs "The angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament. Clear distinction is drawn in the Bible in the original languages between "An angel of the Lord" and "The angel of the Lord."

The Revised Version always preserves this distinction; the Authorized does not. Genesis 16:7-10,13 — "And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence comest thou and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, return to thy mistress, and submit thyself unto her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"

Here "the angel of the LORD" in verse 10 is clearly identified with the Lord (Jehovah) in verse 13. Genesis 21:17-18 — "And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Arise, left up the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make him a great nation." Genesis 22:11-12 — "And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

Here "the angel of the LORD" in verse 11 is identified with God in verse 12. Judges 2:1-2 RV — "And the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers: and I said I will never break my covenant with you: And ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not hearkened to My voice; why have ye done this?"

Here "the angel of the LORD" distinctly says "I" did what Jehovah did. (See also Judges 6:11-14, 19-24 RV, especially verse 14.)

A very noteworthy passage is: Genesis 18:1-2, 9-10, 13-14, 16 — "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah, thy wife? And he said, Behold in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, and, lo, Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. And the LORD said unto Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way."

In these verses, one of the three clearly identifies himself with the LORD or Jehovah. In Genesis 19:1, only two come to Sodom. One has remained behind, two have gone on. Who the one was appears as we read on. Genesis 18:17-20 — "And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do. Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

And the LORD said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous."

Then in verse 22 we read, "Abraham stood yet before the LORD (Jehovah)." Clearly the one of the three who remained behind was Jehovah manifested in the form of a man. In verse 33 the story continues: "The LORD (Jehovah) went his way as soon as he had left communing with Abraham." (See also 19:27.)

Second Proposition: The angel of the Lord is clearly identified with Jehovah — a visible manifestation of Jehovah.

QUESTION: Just who was this "The angel of the LORD"? Judges 13:18 RV — "and the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore asketh thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

Compare Isaiah 9:6 — "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (In the Hebrew, the word for "wonderful" in the passage where "the angel of the LORD" gives it as his name is practically the same as the word in Isaiah, where it is given as the name of the coming Christ.) Malachi 3:1 — "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold he shall come, said the Lord of hosts."

ANSWER: The angel of the Lord was the Son of God before his permanent incarnation. (See also John 8:56 — -"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.") "The angel of the Lord" does not appear after the birth of Christ. The expression occurs in the AV, but is always a mistranslation, as the RV shows. (See Matthew 1:20; 28:2; Luke 2:9; Acts 8:26; 12:7, 23.)

2. THE UNITY OF GOD

I. God's unity. Deuteronomy 4:35 — "Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God: there is none else beside him." Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." Isaiah 43:10 — "Ye are my witnesses, said the Lord, and my servants whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me." Isaiah 44:6 — "Thus said the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." Isaiah 45:5 — "I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me." (See also 45:14, 18.) 1 Timothy 2:5 — "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Mark 10:18 — "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?

There is none good but one, that is God." Mark 12:2 — "And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord."

Proposition: The Lord our God is one Lord, and there is no God besides Him.

II. THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE UNITY.

QUESTION: Is there a multiplicity of persons in this one God?

ANSWER: The Hebrew word translated "one" in these passages denotes a compound unity, not a simple unity. Genesis 2:24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 11:6 — "And the Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."

We find a similar use of the Greek word for "one" in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 — '2 have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God, that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labor." 1 Corinthians 12:13 — "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to drink into one spirit."

Compare John 17:22-23 — "And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." Galatians 3:28 — "There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither bond or free, there is neither male or female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

The Old Testament word most frequently used for God is plural in form.

God uses plural pronouns in speaking of Himself. Genesis 1:26 — -"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Genesis 11:7 — "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." Genesis 3:22 — "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." Isaiah 6:8 — "Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go forth for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

Sometimes the Lord (Jehovah) speaks of Himself as sent by the Lord (Jehovah) of Hosts: Zechariah 2:10-11 — "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee." "The Angel of the Lord" is at the same time distinguished from and identified with the Lord. (See preceding chapter.) John 1:1 — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

We will see later that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are designated as divine beings and clearly distinguished from one another (e.g., Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

QUESTION: How can God be three and one at the same time?

ANSWER: He can not be three and one in the same sense.

QUESTION: In what sense can He be one and three?

ANSWER: A perfectly satisfactory answer to this question is manifestly impossible from the very nature of the case: (1) Because God is Spirit, and numbers belong primarily to the physical world, and difficulty must arise when we attempt to conceive spiritual being in the forms of physical thought; (2) God is infinite and we are finite. He "dwells in the light no man can approach unto."

Our attempt at a philosophical explanation of the tri-unity of God is an attempt to put the facts of infinite being into the forms of finite thought and can be at best only partially successful. This much we know: that God is essentially one and that He also is three. There is but one God: but this one God makes Himself known to man as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and they are separate personalities. John 14:16 — "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever." Mark 1:10-11 — "And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

There is one God eternally existing and manifesting Himself to us in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. THE ETERNITY OF GOD

I. GOD IS ETERNAL. Genesis 21:33 — "And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God." Isaiah 40:28 — "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding." Habakkuk 1:12 — "Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, thou has ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction." Psalm 90:2,4 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." <19A224> Psalm 102:24-27 — "I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.

But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." (See also Isaiah 57:15; Romans 1:20; Genesis 1: 1 John 1:1.)

Proposition: God is eternal His existence had no beginning and will have no end. He always was, always is, and always will be.

Compare to Exodus 3:14. He is the I Am — Jehovah.

II. GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE. Malachi 3:6 — -"For I am the LORD, I change not." James 1:17 — "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 1 Samuel 15:29 — -"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent." (See also Hebrews 6:17 and Numbers 23:19.)

Proposition: God is unchangeable. His counsel, purpose, and character are always the same.

OBJECTION: Jonah 3:10 — "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." Here it says that God repented.

ANSWER: God remained the same in character, infinitely hating sin, and in His purpose to visit sin with judgment. But as Nineveh changed in its attitude toward sin, God necessarily changed in His attitude toward Nineveh. If God remains the same, if His attitude toward sin and righteousness are unchanging, then His dealings with men must change as men turn from sin to repentance. God's character remains ever the same, but His dealings with men change as men change from a position that is hateful to God's unchangeable hatred of sin to a position that is pleasing to his unchangeable love of righteousness.

OBJECTION: Genesis 6:6 — -"And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." Here it not only says that God repented of what He had done in creating man, but "it grieved him at His heart."

ANSWER: (1) Man's wickedness was so great and so abhorrent that his very creation was an object of great grief to God. This does not necessarily imply that God wished, all things considered, that He had not created man.

Rather it suggests God grieved that He had. Many things we do grieve us, and yet, everything considered, we do not wish that we had not done them. (2) God repenting that He had made man means (as verse 7 clearly shows) that He turned from His creative dealings with man to His destroying dealings (v. 7). This was necessitated by man's sins. The unchangeably holy God must destroy man who has fallen into sin.

III. GOD IS SELF-EXISTENT. John 5:26 — "For as the Father hath life in Himself."

Proposition: God is self-existent. God not only exists from eternity, but also exists from Himself. (See also Acts 17:24-28.)

4. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD

I. GOD IS EVERYWHERE. <19D907> Psalm 139:7-10 — "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Jeremiah 23:23-24 "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." Acts 17:24-28 — "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation: that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also of his offspring." (See also Isaiah 57:15.)

Proposition: God is everywhere. He is in all parts of the universe and near each individual. In Him each individual lives and moves and has his being.

II. GOD IS NOT EVERYWHERE IN THE SAME SENSE. John 14:28 — "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you. If ye love me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." John 20:17 — "Jesus said unto her, touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God." Ephesians 1:20 — "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." Revelation 21:2-3,10, 22-23 — "And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Revelation 22:1,3 — "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him."

Proposition: God is in some places in a way that He is not in other places. ( Isaiah 66:1 — "Thus said the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me, and where is the place of my rest?") There is a fullness and manifestation of His presence in some places that doesn't exist in others. Heaven is the place where, at the present time, the presence and glory of God is especially and visibly manifested. Mark 1:9-11 — "And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

God the Father is especially manifested in heaven. God the Son has been especially manifested on earth. (See also John 3:13, the entire gospels and "the Angel of the Lord" in the O.T.) God the Son is now in heaven. ( Acts 7:56; Ephesians 1:20 and many other passages.) God the Holy Spirit is manifested everywhere: (a) in nature ( Genesis 1:2; <19A430> Psalm 104:30); (b) in all believers ( John 14:16-17; Romans 8:9); and (c)with unbelievers ( John 16:7-11).

Through the Spirit, the Father and the Son dwell in the believer ( John 14:17, 19-20, 23). (See also Matthew 28:19-20.)

5. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD WE HAVE SEEN that God is omnipresent. This conception of God must be balanced by the conception of God as a person or we run into Pantheism, i.e., the conception that God is not only everywhere and in everything, but that God is everything and everything is God; that God has no existence separate from His creatures.

I. GOD IS A LIVING GOD. Jeremiah 10:10-16 — -"But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of Hosts is his name." (Note the context of verses 3-9, especially 5 and 8-9.) God is here distinguished from idols, which are things, not persons. Idols "speak not," "cannot go," "cannot do good, neither is it in them to do evil"; but Jehovah is wiser than "all the wise men," is "the living God," "an everlasting King," a being who hath "wrath and indignation" separate from His creatures — "at His wrath the earth trembleth and the nations are not able to abide his indignation." Acts 14:15 — "And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." 1 Thessalonians 1:9 — "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." 2 Chronicles 16:9 — "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." Psalm 94:9-10 — "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?" (and numerous other passages).

Proposition: God is a living God. He hears, sees, knows, feels, wills, acts, is a person. He is to be distinguished from idols, which are things, not persons. He is to be distinguished from the works of His hands which he formed.

Note. Personality is characterized by knowledge, feeling, and will. Some confuse personality with bodiliness.

II. GOD'S RELATION TO HUMAN AFFAIRS. Joshua 3:10 — "And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites." Daniel 6:20-22, 26-27 — "And when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt... I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he speaketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." 1 Timothy 4:10 — "For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." Hebrews 10:28-31 — "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense saith the Lord, And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Proposition: God has a present, personal interest and an active hand in human affairs. He makes a path for His people and leads them. He delivers, saves and punishes.

The God of the Bible is not only to be distinguished from the God of the Pantheist, who has no existence separate from His creation, but also from the God of the Deist, who has created the world and put into it all the necessary powers of self-action and development, and left it to itself. God is personally and actively present in the affairs of the universe.

III. GOD AS CREATOR. Genesis 1:1 — "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." John 1:13 — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."

Proposition: God is the Creator of all existing things.

IV. GOD'S PRESENT RELATION TO THE WORLD HE HAS CREATED. <19A427> Psalm 104:27-30 — "These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to the dust.

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth." Isaiah 45:5-7 — "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me, I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." Psalm 75:6-7 — "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another."

Proposition: God sustains, governs, and cares for the world He has created. He shapes the whole present history of the world.

V. THE EXTENT OF GOD'S CARE AND GOVERNMENT. Matthew 6:26, 28-30 — "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Matthew 10:29-30 — "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

First Proposition: God's care and government extend to all His creatures. Genesis 39:21 — "But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." Daniel 1:9 — "Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs." 1 Kings, 19:5-7 — "And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, Arise and eat.

And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a ruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee."

Second Proposition: God's care, ministry, and government extend to the individual. Matthew 10:29-30 — "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Third Proposition: God's care, ministry, and government extend to the minutest matters. Psalm 76:10 — "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Genesis 50:20 — "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (See also Romans 9:17,19.) Acts 2:22-23 — "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Job 1:12 — "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord." Job 2:6 — "And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thy hand; but save his life." Luke 22:3 — "And Satan entered unto Judas who was called Iscariot, being one of the number of the twelve.

Fourth Proposition: God's control and government extend to the wicked devices and doings of evil men and of Satan, and He makes even these work out His own glory and His people's good. (Compare to Romans 8:28 — "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.")

6. THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD I. GOD IS OMNIPOTENT. Job 42:2 — "I know that Thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee." Genesis 18:14 — "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Matthew 19:26 — "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

Proposition: God can do all things; nothing is too hard for him; all things are possible with Him. God is omnipotent. Genesis 1:3 — "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Psalm 33:6-9 — "By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap; he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." <19A725> Psalm 107:25-29 — "For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still." Nehemiah 1:3-6 — "The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan lan-guisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him."

All nature is absolutely subject to God's will and word. James 4:12-15 — "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

All men are absolutely subject to God's will and word. (Note. Happy is the man who voluntarily subjects himself to God's will and word.) Hebrews 1:13-14 "But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

Angels are absolutely subject to God's will and word. Job 1:12 — "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord." Job 2:6 — "And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life."

Satan is absolutely subject to God's will and word.

II. THE EXERCISE OF GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE IS LIMITED BY HIS WILL. Isaiah 59:1-2 — "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Proposition: The exercise of God's omnipotence is limited by His own wise, holy, and loving will.

God can do anything, but will do only what infinite wisdom, holiness, and love dictate.

QUESTION: Why doesn't God destroy Satan?

ANSWER: It would not be wise to destroy him yet. By his malevolence Satan is working out part of God's benevolent plan.

7. THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD I. GOD IS OMNISCIENT. 1 John 3:20 — "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." Job 37:16 — -"Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?" <19E705> Psalm 147:5 — "Great is the Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."

Proposition: God "knoweth all things." He is "perfect in knowledge." "His understanding is infinite." Literally, "of his understanding there is no number." )

II. WHAT GOD KNOWS. Proverbs 15:3 RV — "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good."

First Proposition: He sees all that occurs in every place and keeps watch over the evil and the good. <19E704> Psalm 147:4 — -"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names." Matthew 10:29 — "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."

Second Proposition: He knows everything in nature, every star and every sparrow. Psalm 33:13-15 — "The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works." Proverbs 5:21 — "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings."

Third Proposition: "He beholdeth all the sons of men" and "considereth all their works.' "The ways of men are before" His eyes, and "He pondereth for maketh level all his goings." <19D902> Psalm 139:2-3 — "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."

Fourth Proposition: He knows all man's deeds and experiences. <19D904> Psalm 139:4 "For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether."

Fifth Proposition: He knows all man's words. Exodus 3:7 — "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows."

Sixth Proposition: He knows all man's sorrows.

It seems sometimes as though He does not. It must have seemed so sometimes to Israel in Egypt, but He did and in time proved it. <19D901> Psalm 139:1-2 — "O Lord, thou has searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off." 1 Chronicles 28:9 — "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off forever."

Seventh Proposition: He understands all our thoughts afar off. Matthew 10:29-30 — "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Eighth Proposition: God's knowledge extends to minute particulars., Acts 15:18 RV — "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Isaiah 46:9-10 — "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

Ninth Proposition: God knows what shall be for all eternity. (Compare to 1 Peter 1:20 RV — "Christ: who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times." See also Mark 13:32.) Matthew 20:17-19 — "And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them: Behold we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again." Exodus 3:19 RV — "And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, no, not by a mighty hand." Acts 3:17-18 — "And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled." 2 Kings 7:1-2 — "Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD:

Thus saith the LORD, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. Then a lord on whom the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." Psalm 41:9 — "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." Galatians 1:15-16 — "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." 1 Peter 1:2 — "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you and peace be multiplied."

Tenth Proposition: God knows from the beginning what each individual man will do. Ephesians 1:9,12 — "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.

That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Ephesians 3:4-9 RV — "Whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to-wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the lest of all saints, was his grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ: and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which from all ages hath been hid in God, who created all things." Colossians 1:25-26 — "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations."

Eleventh Proposition: The whole plan of the ages and each man's part in it has been known to God for all eternity.

There are no afterthoughts with God. We may exclaim, "O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!" ( Romans 11:33).

8. THE HOLINESS OF GOD

I. GOD IS HOLY. Isaiah 6:3 — "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." Joshua 24:19 — "And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lore): for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." Psalm 22:3 — "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." Psalm 99:5,9 — "Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy." Isaiah 5:16 — -"But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness." John 17:1 l — "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one, as we are." 1 Peter 1:15-16 — -"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy."

Proposition: God is holy, absolutely holy.

God is called the Holy One of Israel about thirty times in Isaiah, and is so called also in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and elsewhere. In the New Testament God the Son is spoken of as the holy one ( 1 John 2:20). The third person of the Trinity is constantly spoken of as the Holy Spirit. Holiness is the essential moral nature of God. Isaiah 57:15 — "For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (The name stands for the character and being.)

II. WHAT DOES HOLY MEAN? Leviticus 11:43-45 — "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Deuteronomy 23:14 "For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Note the context of this verse.)

Proposition: Holy means free from all defilement, pure. "God is holy" means, "God is absolutely pure." 1 John 1:5 — "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Note. The entire Mosaic system of washings; divisions of the tabernacle; divisions of the people into ordinary Israelites, Levites, Priests and High Priests, who were permitted different degrees of approach to God under strictly defined conditions; the insisting upon sacrifice as a necessary medium of approach to God; God's directions to Moses in Exodus 3:5; to Joshua in Joshua 5:15, the punishment of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16-26; the strict orders to Israel in regard to approaching Sinai when Jehovah came down upon it; the doom of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16:1-33; and the destruction of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3: all these were intended to teach, emphasize, and burn into the minds and hearts of the Israelites the fundamental truth that God is holy. Not just holy, but unapproachably holy. The truth that God is holy is the fundamental truth of the Bible, of the Old Testament and the New Testament, of the Jewish religion, and of the Christian religion.

III. HOW IS THE HOLINESS OF GOD MANIFESTED? Habakkuk 1:13 — "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?" Genesis 6:5-6 — "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Deuteronomy 25:16 — "For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God." Proverbs 15:9,26 — "The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord."

First Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in a hatred for sin. Proverbs 15:9 — "But he loveth him that followeth after righteousness." Leviticus 19:2 — "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." Leviticus 20:26 — "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and I have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine."

Second Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in a delight in righteousness and holiness. Job 34:10 — "Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity."

Third Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in His never doing wickedness or iniquity. Isaiah 59:1-2 — "Behold the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that is cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Fourth Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in the separation of the sinner from God.

Herein lies the need of atonement before the sinner can approach God.

This appears in the following passages: Ephesians 2:13 — "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Hebrews 10:9 — "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." John 14:6 — "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

All approaches to God are on the ground of shed blood. The atonement has its deepest demand in the holiness of God. Any doctrine of' the atonement that sees its need only in the necessity that man be influenced by a mighty motive, or in the necessities of governmental expediency, does not go to the root of things. The first and fundamental reason why "without shedding of blood there is no remission" is that God is holy and sin must be covered before there can be fellowship between God and the sinner. Exodus 34:6-7 — "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." Genesis 6:5-7 — "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." Psalm 5:4-6 — "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."

Fifth Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in the punishment of the sinner.

God does not punish the sinner merely because the sinner's good makes it necessary. God is holy. God hates sin. His holiness and hatred of sin, like every attribute of His, is living and active and must manifest itself. His holy wrath at sin must strike. (See Isaiah 53:6 — -"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." The literal translation of the Hebrew for "hath laid upon" is "caused to strike upon.") Any view of the punishment of sin that leaves out the thought of its being an expression of God's holy hatred of sin is not only unbiblical, but shallow and dishonoring to God. God is holy, infinitely holy, and he infinitely hates sin. In our own burning indignation at some enormous iniquity, we get glimpses at times of what God's hatred of sin must be, but God is infinitely holy, and God's wrath at the smallest sin is infinitely greater than ours at great enormity. God is love, it is true, but his love is not the sentimental sort that sends costly bouquets and tender missives to moral monsters, as some of our Universalist theologians would have us think. "Our God is a consuming fire" ( Hebrews 12:29). God's love to sinners will never be appreciated until seen in the light of His blazing wrath at sin. John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 1 Peter 3:18 — "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."

Sixth Proposition: The holiness of God manifests itself in His making an infinite sacrifice to save others from sin unto holiness. The death of Christ is not merely a manifestation of the love of God but of HIS holiness as well.

IV. PRACTICAL INFERENCES FROM THE DOCTRINE THAT GOD IS HOLY. Hebrews 12:28-29 — "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which can not be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." Exodus 3:4-5 — "And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses.

And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Isaiah 6:1-3 — "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

We must draw nigh to God with awe. Even the holy seraphim covered their faces and their feet in His presence. They have four wings for worship but only two for service. Isaiah 6:5-6 — -"Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar."

The pure light of God's holiness reveals the blackness of our sin. (Compare to Job 42:5-6 — "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.") If any man think well of himself, he has never met God. Nothing will demolish self-righteousness like one real sight of God. Hebrews 9:22 — "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission."

There is no forgiveness without atonement. Sin must be covered from the holy gaze of God, and nothing will cover it but blood. Romans 5:8 — "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

The wonderfulness of God's love! That the God whose name is holy, the Infinitely Holy God, could love beings so utterly sinful as we are, that is the wonder of the eternities. There are many deep mysteries in the Bible, but none other as profound as this.

9. THE LOVE OF GOD

I. GOD IS LOVE. 1 John 4:8,16 — -"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

Proposition: God is love. Not merely God loves, but God is love. Love is the very essence of His moral nature. He is the source of all love. 1 John 4:7 — "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

QUESTION: What is love?

ANSWER: 1 John 3:16-17 RV — "Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso has this world's goods and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?" Matthew 5:44-45 — "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

Love is a desire for and delight in the welfare of the one loved.

II. WHO DOES GOD LOVE? Matthew 3:17 — "And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 17:5 — "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Luke 20:13 — "Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved Son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him."

First Proposition: God loves His Son. God's Son is the original and eternal object of HIS love. John 17:24 "Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

Because of a necessity in the Divine Being Himself, if God is eternal love, that love must have an eternal object. There must, then, be multiple persons in the Godhead. The eternal object of the divine love is the Eternal Son. John 16:27 — "For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God." John 14:21,23 — "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Second Proposition: God loves those who are united to the Son by faith and love.

God loves, as we shall see, all men, but He has an altogether peculiar love for those who are in Christ. John 17:23 — "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

God has precisely the same love to those who are in Christ that He has to Christ Himself. Of course there is a love from God to those who are now in Christ which precedes their love to Christ. ( 1 John 4:19 — "We love Him, because He first loved us.") John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 1 Timothy 2:4 "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 2 Peter 3:9 — "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Third Proposition: God loves the world — the whole human race and each individual in it. Romans 5:6-8 — "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Ephesians 2:4-5 — "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)." Ezekiel 33:11 — "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

Fourth Proposition: God loves the sinner, the ungodly, those dead in sin.

God's love for the unregenerate sinner differs from the love He has for the one in Christ ( John 14:21,23 John 17:23; Romans 8:30-39). But God has a peculiar interest in lost ones. ( Luke 15:7-10 — "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.") This can be understood by a father's love for a true son and a wayward son.

III. HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD MANIFEST ITSELF?. Isaiah 48:14, 20-21 — "All ye assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out." Deuteronomy 32:9-12 — "For the Lord's portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her next, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him." Deuteronomy 33:3,12 — "Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. And of Benjamin he said, the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders."

First Proposition: God's love manifests itself in ministering to the need and joy of those He loves and protecting them from evil. Hebrews 12:6-11 — "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

Second Proposition: God's love manifests itself in chastening and scourging His loved ones for their profit, that out of this chastening the peaceable fruit of righteousness may come. Isaiah 63:9 — "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old."

Third Proposition: God's love manifests itself in His being Himself afflicted when His loved ones are afflicted, even when that affliction comes from His own hand. Isaiah 49:15-16 — "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

Fourth Proposition: God's love is manifested in His never forgetting those He loves. He may seem to forget, but He never does. 1 John 4:9-10 — "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Fifth Proposition: God's love has manifest itself in His making the greatest sacrifice He could for those He loves — the sacrifice of His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Sacrifice is the measure of love. The sacrifice of Christ is the measure of God's love. (Compare to Genesis 22:12 — "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.") Isaiah 38:17 — "Behold, for peace I have great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Isaiah 55:7 — "Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Sixth Proposition: God's love manifests itself by Him forgiving sins. Ephesians 2:4 RV — "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, quickened us together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus: for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

Seventh Proposition: God's love manifests itself (I) by Him imparting life to those dead in trespasses and sins, (2) by Him raising them up with Christ, (3) by Him making them sit with Christ in the heavenly places, (4) by Him showing to us in the ages to come the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

God has only begun to do for us. The fullness of His love is not yet manifested. It is just beginning to unfold itself: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" ( 1 John 3:2). 1 John 3:1 RV — "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God: and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

Eighth Proposition: God's love manifests itself by Him allowing us to be called "children of God." Zephaniah 3:17 — "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

Ninth Proposition: God's love manifests itself by Him rejoicing over His saved people with joy and singing.

Compare to Luke 15:23-24 "And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry. For this, my son, was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."

10. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OR JUSTICE OF GOD PRELIMINARY NOTE: The words "righteous" and "just," also "righteousness" and 'justice," in the English Bible represent the same Hebrew and Greek words in the Old and New Testaments.

I. GOD IS RIGHTEOUS. Ezra 9:15 — "O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous."

Psalm 116: 5 — "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful." <19E517> Psalm 145:17 — "The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Jeremiah 12:1 — "Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee." John 17:25 — "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me."

Proposition: God is righteous, or just.

II. WHAT IS IT TO BE RIGHTEOUS, OR JUST? Ezekiel 18:5 — "But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right." Zephaniah 3:5 — "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame."

To be just, or righteous, is to possess enough character to always do what is right.

The Hebrew word for just, according to its etymology, means "right" or "straight." The etymology of the English word "righteous" is the same. The etymology of the Greek word is "custom" or "usage" — that which conforms to custom.

The righteousness or justice of God is that attribute that leads Him always to do right. It is not to be limited, as it so often is in modern theological usage, to His punitive justice. This, as we will see, is only one manifestation of the justice, or righteousness, of God and not the one that is most prominent in biblical usage.

Holiness seems to have more reference to God's character as He is in and of Himself; while His righteousness is manifested in His dealings with others.

III. HOW IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OR JUSTICE OF GOD MANIFESTED? Psalm 11:4-7 — "The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright."

First Proposition: The righteousness of God is manifested in His loving what is righteous and hating iniquity. Exodus 9:23-27 — "And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." 2 Chronicles 12:5-6 — -"Then came Shemaiah the prophet of Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous." Daniel 9:12,14 — "And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice." Revelation 16:5-6 — "And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."

Second Proposition: The righteousness of God is manifested in his assigning to sinners the punishment due their sins. 2 Timothy 4:8 — "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 1 Kings 8:32 — "Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and.judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.'' Psalm 7:9-11 — "O, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just; for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." Hebrews 6:10 — "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."

Third Proposition: The righteousness of God is manifested in His granting the righteous the reward for their faithfulness. Psalm 98:1-3 — "O, sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." <19A306> Psalm 103:6 — -"The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." <19C901> Psalm 129:1-4 — "Many times have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked." 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 — "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels."

Fourth Proposition: the righteousness of God is manifested in His protecting and delivering His people from all their adversaries.

In modern theological discussions, we hear more of the justice or righteousness of God related to the punishment of sinners, but in the Bible we read of it more related to the protection of His people. In modern usage it is more frequently presented as an attribute of God that causes sinners to tremble. But in the Bible, justice and righteousness constantly are presented as attributes of God that cause His people to rejoice and be confident. For example: Psalm 96:11-13 — "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice, before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judgeth the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Jeremiah 9:24 "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." <19B605> Psalm 116:5-6 — "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me." <19E505> Psalm 145:5, 15-19 — "The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that are bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them." Revelation 15:3 — "And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints."

Even the righteousness of God in the punishment of the sinner is sometimes spoken of in relation to its connection with the deliverance or avenging of His people. Consider the following: 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 — "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." Revelation 19:1-2 — "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." Revelation 16:4-6 — "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."

Here the prominent thought is the vindication and avenging of His people, rather than the suffering of the wicked. Nehemiah 9:7-8 — "Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham, and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous."

Fifth Proposition: the righteousness of God is manifested in His keeping His promises. Romans 3:25 — "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to declare his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at the present season; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."

Sixth Proposition: The righteousness of God is manifested (1) in His providing a propitiation when sin was forgiven, and (2) in His justifying him that hath faith in the substitute. 1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Seventh Proposition: The righteousness of God is manifested in the forgiveness of the sins of the believer when they are confessed.

11. THE MERCY OR LOVING-KINDNESS OF GOD PRELIMINARY NOTE: The same Hebrew word is translated sometimes "mercy" and sometimes "loving-kindness." These two words, therefore, mean precisely the same thing. The Hebrew word should have been translated uniformly the one or the other. The word "mercy" in our English translation of the Old Testament is in a few instances a translation of another Hebrew word. This latter word corresponds to the Greek word always translated "compassion" in the New Testament. It covers essentially the same thought as the other word; in fact, in the quotation in Romans 9:15 ("For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom 1 will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion''), it is translated by the Greek word for mercy. The primary meaning of the word most frequently used is "kindness," especially kindness exercised toward the suffering or sinning. It is so translated thirty-nine times in the Authorized Version. In thirty-one of these instances it is used for the kindness of man toward man, and in the remaining eight for the kindness of God toward man.

I. GOD IS MERCIFUL. <19A308> Psalm 103:8 — "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." Deuteronomy 4:31 — "(For the Lore) thy God is a merciful God); he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them." Psalm 62:12 — "Also unto thee, O LORD, belongeth mercy." <19E508> Psalm 145:8 — "The LORD is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy."

Psalm 86: 15 — "But thou, O LORD, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."

Proposition: God is merciful, plenteous in mercy.

II. TOWARD WHOM IS THE MERCY OF GOD MANIFESTED? Romans 9:15,18 — "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."

First Proposition: God's mercy is manifested toward anyone He wishes.

He is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His mercy.

But it should be remembered that while God is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His mercy and while no one can dictate toward who he shall show mercy, in point of fact He wills to have mercy on all. (See 2 Peter 3:9 — "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.") Deuteronomy 7:9 — "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." Exodus 20:6 — -"And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." <19A311> Psalm 103:11,17 — "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children." 2 Chronicles 6:14 "And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts."

Second Proposition: God's mercy is manifested toward those who fear or love Him: His servants who walk before Him with all their hearts. "The fear of the LORD" and "the love of God" as used in the Bible are nearly synonymous. Compare Proverbs 8:13, 16:6 with 1 John 5:3.

They look at the same practical attitude toward God from different points of view. Proverbs 28:13 — "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whoso contesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Third Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward everyone who confesses and forsakes his or her sins. Psalm 32:10 — "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about."

Fourth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward the one who trusts in the Lord: "Mercy shall compass him about." Psalm 86:5 — "For Thou, LORD, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee."

Fifth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward all who call upon Him.

See also Romans 10:12-13 — "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved." Isaiah 49:13 — "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth in singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."

Sixth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward His afflicted people.

III. HOW IS THE MERCY OF GOD MANIFESTED? Exodus 34:7 — "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." Isaiah 55:7 — "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Jonah 4:2 — "And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray Thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil." Jeremiah 3:12 — "God and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever" Micah 7:18 — "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever because He delighteth in mercy." Psalm 51:1 — "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." Numbers 14:18-20 — "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word."

First Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in His pardoning sin when confessed and forsaken.

This manifestation of God's mercy lies at the basis of many other manifestations. Nevertheless, it is not true, according to Biblical usage, that "mercy is exercised only when there is guilt." Nehemiah 9:16-18, 26-27, 30-31 — "But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments. And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness and forsookest them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, this is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations." (See also intervening verses.) "Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore, thou deliverest them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of the enemies. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by the spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."

Second Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in his bearing long with sinners even when they harden their necks and persist in sin. (Compare to 2 Peter 3:39 — "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.") Psalm 6:1-4 "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak:

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake." Philippians 2:27 — "For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." Exodus 15:13 — "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation."

Third Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in Him delivering His people from sickness, sorrow, and oppression. Psalm 21:7 — "For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most high he shall not be moved."

Fourth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in Him maintaining the security of those who trust Him. Psalm 59:16 — "But I will sing of thy power: yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble."

Fifth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in His acting as a defense and refuge in the day of trouble.

12. THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD

I. GOD IS FAITHFUL. Deuteronomy 7:9 — "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." Deuteronomy 32:4 RV — "The rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are judgment: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he." Isaiah 49:7 — "Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee." 1 Corinthians 1:9 — "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord." 1 Corinthians 10:13 — "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24 — "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 2 Thessalonians 3:3 — "But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil." 1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Proposition: God is faithful.

II. WHAT DOES FAITHFUL MEAN?

The Hebrew root of the words "faithful" and "faithfulness" means to prop, stay, or support. The intransitive use of the word signifies to stay oneself or be supported; so, the word faithful, applied to a person, means someone you may safely lean on. The Greek word used in the New Testament for "faithful" and "faithfulness" means trustworthy or to be relied upon. This Greek word is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word mentioned above.

Usage: <19B986> Psalm 119:86 — -"All thy commandments are faithful." Proverbs 14:5 — "A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies." Matthew 24:45-46 — -"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing." Matthew 25:21,23 — "His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 1 Timothy 1:15 — "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." Revelation 21:5 — "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful."

The Biblical usage of the word faithful conforms to its etymology. This will become more clear when we consider how the faithfulness of God is manifested. Therefore, the proposition that God is faithful means God is a being upon whom we can absolutely rely or stay ourselves.

III. THE EXTENT OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS. Lamentations 3:23 — "They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

First Proposition: God's faithfulness is great. Psalm 36:5 RV — "Thy loving kindness, O LORD, is in the heavens; thy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies."

Second Proposition: God's faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Note the context, verse 6. Compare to Psalm 89:2 — "For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.") Psalm 33:4, RV — "For the word of the LORD is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness."

Third Proposition: All God's work is done in faithfulness.

IV. HOW IS THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD MANIFESTED? Hebrews 10:23, 36-37 — "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised). For we have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Deuteronomy 7:9 — "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." 1 Kings 8:23-24,56 — "And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou speakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses, his servant." Psalm 89:33-34 "Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." <19B989> Psalm 119:89-90 — "Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in Heaven.

Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth."

First Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in His keeping His promise and covenant — in His fulfilling every word that goes out of His mouth regardless of what man does. 1 Peter 4:19 — "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." Psalm 89:20-26 — "I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him: nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation."

Psalm 89 might well be called "The Faithfulness Psalm." (See verse 1, etc.)

Second Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in His unfailing defense and deliverance of His servants in times of trial, testing and conflict. Lamentations 3:22-23 — "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."

Compare to Jeremiah 51:5 — "For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Logo of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel."

Third Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in His standing by His people and saving them even when they are unfaithful to him.

Compare to 2 Timothy 2:13 RV — "If we are faithless, he abideth faithful: for he cannot deny himself." 1 Samuel 12, 20-22 — "And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Logo, but serve the Logo with all your heart; And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. For the Logo will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it has pleased the Logo to make you his people."

Our security is in His faithfulness, not in our own. 1 Corinthians 10:13 — "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Fourth Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in His not suffering His children to be tempted above that which they are able, but with the temptation making also a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 RV — "But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from the evil one." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 — "Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 RV — "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it."

Fifth Proposition: The faithfulness of God is manifested in confirming and establishing those He has called, guarding them from the evil one, sanctifying them wholly and preserving them — spirit, soul, and body — without blame at the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ. The confidence of God's children with regard to their future is not in their faithfulness, but in God's. John 10:28-29 — "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." <19B975> Psalm 119:75 — "I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." Hebrews 12:6 — "For whom the LORD loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

Sixth Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in HIS chastening HIS children when they go astray. 1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Seventh Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in His forgiving His children when they confess their sins.

Our confidence that God will forgive our sins when confessed rests upon two known facts about God, viz: God is righteous and God is faithful. To doubt that your sin is forgiven when you have confessed it is to question His righteousness and His faithfulness as well as His veracity. It is not humility, but presumption. <19E301> Psalm 143:1-2 — "Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications; in thy fatithfulness answer me... And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified."

Eighth Proposition: God's faithfulness is manifested in HIS answering the prayers of His children.