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.