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of the confession to chapter 
2. Does anybody need one? It doesn't look like it. You 
guys are all well prepared. That's great. So chapter 2 of 
God and of the Holy Trinity. I'll read all three paragraphs, 
and then we'll jump into an introduction to the doctrine of God from this 
particular chapter. And we'll spend more than one 
Sunday on this topic. The topic, no doubt, is worthy 
of more than one Sunday when we're able to spend more than 
one Sunday on the doctrine. So I'll read all three paragraphs, 
and then we'll jump into it. Chapter 2, beginning at paragraph 
1. The Lord our God is but one only living and true God, whose 
subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection, 
whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself, a most pure 
spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only 
hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach 
unto, who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, 
every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, 
working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable 
and most righteous will. for His own glory, most loving, 
gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, 
forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, the rewarder of them 
that diligently seek Him, and with all most just and terrible 
in His judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means 
clear the guilty. God, having all life, glory, 
goodness, blessedness, in and of himself, is alone in and unto 
himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which 
he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting 
his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain 
of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things. And he hath most sovereign dominion 
over all creatures, to do by them, for them, and upon them 
whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open 
and manifest. His knowledge is infinite, infallible, 
and independent upon the creature. so as nothing is to him contingent 
or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, 
in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from 
angels and men whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as creatures 
they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased 
to require of them. In this divine and infinite being, 
there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word, or Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having 
the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. The Father 
is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally 
begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father 
and the Son. all-infinite, without beginning, 
therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and 
being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties 
and personal relations. Which doctrine of the Trinity 
is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable 
dependence on Him? Amen. Well, those three paragraphs 
could launch about 847 Bible studies or confession studies 
or biblical studies regarding the doctrine of God. We're not 
going to spend that much time in it, though no doubt God is 
worthy of that. But we will start this morning 
with an introduction to the doctrine of God. So we won't dive into 
the paragraph content in detail quite yet, but we want to sort 
of sort of prepare our minds and condition our minds and exercise 
our minds to a proper consideration of such a heavy topic. and such 
a glorious topic. Just to frame ourselves with 
some things, a couple quotes to begin our study. First off, 
this is a very quick quote by Augustine. He says, in no other 
subject, that is the doctrine of God, in no other subject is 
error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery 
of truth more profitable. The fact that we're studying 
the creator of all things, the fact that we're studying the 
sustainer of all things, and the fact that we're studying 
the redeemer of the elect, it's a high and heavy topic. Once 
again, in no other subject is error more dangerous. As you've 
heard Pastor Butler say on many occasions, we can disagree on 
the grain pattern of the gopher wood in Noah's Ark, but we can't 
disagree on the doctrine of God. We might disagree on eschatology, 
on the various approaches to eschatological things, But we 
cannot disagree on the doctrine of God. We cannot be found in 
error at this point and be safely within the fold of Christ's elect. Inquiry is more laborious, he 
says. The inquiry into the one who 
is incomprehensible is the most laborious inquiry. There are 
things which are comprehensible because they are finite, but 
the one who is infinite, and therefore incomprehensible, studying 
him is the most laborious thing. But that does not mean that it 
is not glorious. And Augustine goes on to say, 
the discovery of truth is profitable, or in no other subject is the 
discovery of truth more profitable. As we go about studying our God, 
we are, as Christians, to be very profitable, because we're 
studying the One who has created all things, who sustains all 
things, and who has brought us forth from darkness to light 
by His amazing grace through the perfect work of our Savior 
Jesus Christ. Another introductory quote, this 
one a little bit more longer, but again, framing our minds 
for this study. This is Charles Haddon Spurgeon 
in the late 19th century. He said, or preached, these words, 
there is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation 
of the divinity. It is a subject so vast that 
all our thoughts are lost in its immensity, so deep that our 
pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple 
with, in them we feel a kind of self-content and go our way 
with a thought, behold I am wise. But when we come to this master 
science, finding that our plumb line cannot sound its depth, 
and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away 
with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like 
a wild ass's colt, a wild ass's colt, and with solemn exclamation, 
I am but of yesterday and know nothing. No subject of contemplation 
will tend more to humble the mind than thoughts of God. But 
while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He 
who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man 
who simply plods around this narrow globe. The most excellent 
study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and 
Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious 
Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, 
nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, 
continued investigation of the great subject of the deity. So 
that hopefully will help us in a small way to frame our minds 
as we study the doctrine of God. Turn with your Bibles with me 
to two particular places. The first place is John 17. If we think about Christians 
studying God and knowing God, We have to ask the Bible, is 
it necessary? To what degree is it significant? Is it something that is primary 
in the life, in the sojourn of Christians, or is it just something 
that we can kind of put off? Let's just worship God in some 
sort of a emotional and ecstatic way and not really know him. 
You know, doctrine is dusty and old, and doctrine divides. Let's 
just get on with the business of worshiping God. Well, the 
Bible disagrees with such a posture, and Jesus Christ, in John 17, 
as He begins His high priestly prayer, He acknowledges the Father, 
of course, as He prays, according to His assumed humanity. And 
as he prays to the Father, he acknowledges the reality of himself 
as being the champion of God's elect. And then he speaks with 
something concerning eternal life. Notice in John 17, beginning 
at verse 1, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to 
heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, 
that your Son also may glorify you. as you have given him authority 
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many 
as you have given him. And this is eternal life, verse 
3, and this is the verse of focus, and this is eternal life, that 
they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you 
have sent. We see the primacy of the knowledge 
of God intimately and indissolubly linked to the knowledge of God. Eternal life is linked to the 
knowledge of God. And so, if eternal life is linked 
to the knowledge of God, then we as Christians ought to be 
about the knowledge of God, knowing the one who has created us, who 
always sustains us, and who has redeemed us through the precious 
blood of Jesus Christ. These are important words in 
just one single verse, in one single sentence spoken by our 
Savior. And this is eternal life, that 
they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you 
have sent." Eternal life is intimately and indivorceably, I don't know 
if that's a word, you can look it up later, linked to the knowledge 
of the triune God and to the mediator of God's elect. This 
passage isn't alone, of course, in the Bible, and we have Old 
Testament witness to the very same thing. If you want to turn 
to Jeremiah 9 with me. We're simply bringing forth only 
two of a multitude of witnesses that speak to the reality of 
the knowledge of God as primary in the life of God's people. 
in Jeremiah 9 at verse 23, this is Jeremiah prophesying within 
the context of bringing judgment, God bringing judgment upon Israel. 
It's an inevitable judgment. It is judgment that is coming. 
And so Jeremiah is giving particular instructions to the people of 
God, to God's covenant people in this context, as to how they 
are to conduct themselves and how they are to think in the 
context of coming judgment. Notice in verse 23 of Jeremiah 
9, Let him who glories glory in 
this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, 
exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, 
for in these I delight, says the Lord. So we see the primary 
nature of the knowledge of God, and that's just two verses among 
a multitude that speak to the reality that God's people are 
to know him. So unto that end, we'll have 
a look here at an introduction to the doctrine of God. And we've 
got three particular points or three headings that we'll work 
through this morning. The first is an introduction 
to the doctrine of God. The second is some preliminary 
observations and interpretive helps in the study of God. And 
then thirdly, an introduction to the confessional presentation 
of the doctrine of God. And Lord willing, we'll get through 
all three of those. But if anyone knows me, we might 
get through two parts of the first part. But I'll try my hardest. So first off, an introduction 
to the doctrine of God, or theology proper. And the first sub-point 
is what it is. What is the study of the doctrine 
of God, or as we call it, theology proper? It is simply a study 
of the being, attributes, and works of God. If we ask the question 
and we want just a simple answer, what is the study of the doctrine 
of God? It is a study of the being, attributes, 
and the works of God. And in acknowledging that and 
in moving further beyond that, we want to say at the outset 
that it's more than just an acknowledgment of or a base study of monotheism. When we study the doctrine of 
God, we're not just studying some sort of general and nebulous 
doctrine of monotheism. The study of God is the study 
of the one and only living and true God, whose subsistence is 
in and of himself, who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. The study of God is the study 
of the triune God. And so the study of God should 
not just simply be reduced to the existence of some general 
principle of deity within the context of monotheism, but much 
rather it is a study of the God of the scriptures, that is the 
triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of one substance, 
power, and eternity. Thomas Aquinas, in speaking to 
the content, the richness, the chief aim, that's the language 
he uses with regards to the study of God, he says this, the chief 
aim of sacred doctrine, or we could say theology proper, ultimately, 
is to teach the knowledge of God. not only as he is in himself, 
but also as he is the beginning of things and their last end, 
and especially of rational creatures. In treating God, we consider 
whatever concerns the divine essence and whatever concerns 
the distinction of persons." And in fact, that summary right 
there is a good summary of the three paragraphs of chapter two. The doctrine of God is whatever 
concerns, first, the divine essence, and secondly, whatever concerns 
the distinction of persons. Paragraphs 1 and 2 concern the 
divine essence, ultimately, and paragraph 3 concerns the distinction 
of persons. That there are three, and how 
is it that we distinguish them? Another quote, this time by Francis 
Turretin, speaking again to what is the study of the doctrine 
of God, he says that we may know, so the study of God, we could 
say in introducing this, is captured in these things. First, that 
we may know that he is with respect to existence against the atheist, 
that we may know what he is with respect to his nature and attributes 
against the heathen, And then thirdly, that we may know who 
he is with respect to the persons against the Jews and heretics. 
So, that he is, what he is, and who he is. Gregory of Nazianzus 
says, into what were you baptized? The Father? So what he's doing 
here is he's distinguishing Trinitarianism from any other notion of God. Any other notion of monotheism, 
we could say. So again, he says this. Into 
what were you baptized, the Father? Good, but still Jewish. The Son? Good, no longer Jewish, but not 
yet perfect. The Holy Ghost? Very good, this 
is perfect. Was it then, simply, into these, 
or was there some one common name of these? Yes, there was, 
and it is God. So, he's talking about what the 
others have talked about, the study of God is God in his essential 
glory, and God in his triune majesty. So, what is it? It is 
a study of the being attributes and works of God and those that 
concern and only concern the one and only living and true 
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of one substance, power, and 
eternity. Moving on then to the knowledge 
of God as it comes through revelation. So, or we would say, secondly, 
under an introduction to the doctrine of God, the knowledge 
of God comes through revelation. And the knowledge of God comes 
through both natural and supernatural revelation. That is, we often 
use the language general and special revelation. So the knowledge 
of God comes through natural or general revelation. The heavens 
declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. 
Day after day, utter speech. Night after night, reveals knowledge. So knowledge comes through natural 
or general revelation. And it also comes, of course, 
and more especially through supernatural or special revelation. Regarding 
the first, natural or general revelation, the first chapter 
of the Confession and the first paragraph reads this way. The 
light of nature, general revelation, and the works of creation and 
providence, general revelation, do so far manifest the goodness, 
wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable. So there 
is a knowledge of God that comes by way of natural revelation. Also, paragraph 1 of chapter 
22 speaks in the same manner. Now, the confession is saying 
that general revelation can do that. It's not talking about 
the Word, but it's saying that the light of nature, which is 
what we can call natural or general revelation, shows that there 
is a God, but not just that, also that He has lordship and 
sovereignty over all. But not just that, also that 
He is just, good, and does good to all. And not just that, but 
also that he is to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, 
trusted in, and served with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. 
Now, obviously, the doctrine and the reality of sin, that 
anthropological reality that man is dead in his trespasses 
and sins, by that virtue, or not by that virtue, by that non-virtue, 
man does suppress the truth in unrighteousness, but that doesn't 
mean that the revelation that God gives naturally through the 
created order and providence that it is somehow deficient. 
No, it is infallible in its revelation, but man in his sin, of course, 
cannot arrive at a saving knowledge of God. And that's why we have 
special revelation, and that's why the confession in chapter 
1 goes on to speak concerning the necessity both of special 
revelation, but also of the work of the Spirit. For example, in 
paragraph 5 that Jim has touched on previously in his study, Notwithstanding, 
our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine 
authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, 
bearing witness by and with the truth in our hearts. Paragraph 
1 of chapter 1 says, regarding natural revelation, yet are they 
not sufficient, the things that come by way of natural revelation, 
yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and 
His will which is necessary unto salvation. So that's, of course, 
why we have the necessity of supernatural or special revelation 
whereby God is made known to the sons of men through His Word. 
So we have what the doctrine of God is, we have the fact that 
the knowledge of God comes through revelation, and the confession 
is, in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, the confession is drawing from 
the scriptures. One of the things that I think 
we need to understand is that we don't draw theological conclusions 
from the confession of faith. The confession of faith is our 
theological conclusions. That's Richard Barcellos. If 
he ever listens to that, that's Richard Barcellos. He said that 
the Confession of Faith, again, we don't draw theological conclusions 
from it. This simply is our theological 
conclusions. So when we come to paragraphs 
1, 2, and 3 of the Confession, they have drawn theological conclusions 
from the scriptures in stating, this is our God of glory. This 
is the God of essential glory, independent from the creature 
who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thirdly 
then, under an introduction to the doctrine of God, the primacy 
and importance of the knowledge of God and its comprehensive 
Christian scope. the primacy and importance of 
the knowledge of God and its comprehensive Christian scope. 
So first off, under that we see the primacy and importance of 
the knowledge of God in God's creative purpose. Paragraph 2 
of this chapter that we're studying states, again, upon drawing conclusions 
from the Bible, to Him, that is God, is due from angels and 
men whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as creatures they 
owe unto the Creator and whatever He is further pleased to require 
of them. In other words, simply by virtue of creation, we see 
that there is a primacy and an importance to the knowledge of 
God. You can turn with me to Psalm 148. Psalm 148. Here you can see, and if your 
Bible may have it, an italicized, uninspired sort of summary or 
introduction to the psalm. Whenever you see, if you have 
the italicized introductions, those aren't in the autographs. 
The non-italicized stuff like a psalm of David, a praise of 
David, etc., a contemplation of David, those are inspired, 
but the italicized introductions aren't. But this one does say, 
praise to the Lord from creation. And it's a psalm that speaks 
to this reality, the primacy and importance of the knowledge 
of God by virtue of creation. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord 
from the heavens. Praise Him in the heights. Praise 
Him, all His angels. Praise Him, all His hosts. Praise 
Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, all you stars of 
light. Praise Him, you heavens of heavens and you waters above 
the heavens. Let them praise the name of the 
Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He also established 
them forever and ever. He made a decree which shall 
not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, 
you great sea creatures in all the depths, fire and hail, snow 
and clouds, stormy wind fulfilling his word." If we were to read 
on, you can see just the extensiveness of the call upon creation to 
praise and worship God. And no doubt it ought to be assumed 
that a knowledge of God is to be understood here. Now, we can 
say with propriety that inanimate objects can't praise and worship 
God. But the idea is a comprehensive 
call to the people of God to recognize that God is so glorious 
that as it were, and not necessarily, maybe not as it were, but by 
virtue of their particular roles in the created order, the stars, 
the sun and the moon, the waters, the mountains, all of these things 
do in their own God-designed way give praise to God. But this 
should capture the reality that those who are to praise the Lord, 
who have been created in His image, ought to know and understand 
Him. If it is the case, by poetic 
force and also by designed reality, that creation praises God, then 
certainly those created in His image ought to know Him, ought 
to glory in Him, and ought to worship and praise Him. Because 
really, true worship and true praise cannot be rendered by 
those who do not know Him. So the creative purpose speaks 
to the primacy and importance of the knowledge of God. Secondly, 
the primacy and importance of the knowledge of God is seen 
in divine command. We've already seen that from 
Jeremiah 9, from John 17. We see it throughout the Scriptures 
that the knowledge of God is commanded. And for the people 
of God, this isn't... Well, none of God's commands 
are burdensome to the people of God. When it comes to the 
command that we're to know God, we're not to sort of lean back 
in our chairs and just be exasperated and roll our eyes and like, man, 
I got better things to do. What a glorious thing it is that 
we have undeservedly been called from the darkness and deadness 
of sin to life and light in Christ, that we can know our God, that 
we can study our God, that we can, in reverence, humility, 
and joy, approach our God, that we have this revelation given 
to us, and we can understand it. No longer are we bound by 
the madness and the depravity of sin and transgression. No 
longer are we dead in trespasses and sins, such that we have minds 
that cannot grasp the Word of God. Rather, we're now His people. We're now Christ's own. We've 
been brought forth from darkness to light. and we can understand 
and know God. And so the divine command isn't 
something that we do, that we obey begrudgingly, but rather 
with a cheerful and a joyful obedience, we follow that glorious 
command that we are to understand and know Him. And we ought to 
realize that we, that is, Christians, and not just pastors, are called 
upon to know our God. Pastor Butler often repeats that, 
rightly so, from the pulpit, that theology proper, the doctrine 
of God, isn't just for the people manning the pulpits. It's for 
every Christian were to understand and know God. Yes, our pastors, 
theologians, doctors of theology and seminaries, they should know 
more than the pew-goer, because they're tasked with the responsibility 
to instruct us in the things concerning God. But nevertheless, 
the call of the Scriptures To know God is a call that goes 
out to all people, all Christians, in our particular study and context 
here. So, we, that is, Christians and 
not just pastors, are called upon to know our God. And this 
knowledge is a prime reality stated in the Scriptures. It 
is a command given, and it is actually part of the promise 
and expectation of the New Covenant. We can recall something that, 
you know, the language, the simple and glorious language of 2 Peter 
3.18 with regards to a command given as well in addition to 
John 17 and to Jeremiah 9. Remember that language? Grow 
in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is a command 
given by God through the Apostle Peter. But one of the things 
that we also have is that the knowledge of God is part of the 
promise and expectation of the New Covenant. You can turn with 
me to Jeremiah 31. Not only here, but also, in fact, 
in the book of Deuteronomy and elsewhere, the book of Isaiah, 
with regards to some realities concerning the New Covenant and 
those who are members of the New Covenant, which is the covenant 
of grace, properly speaking. Those who are members of The 
covenant of grace, by virtue of the perfect work of Jesus 
Christ, know God, or the reality stated is that they will know 
God. Notice in Jeremiah 31, beginning at verse 31. Behold, the days 
are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with 
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according 
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that 
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, 
My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, 
says the Lord. But this is the covenant that 
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 
the Lord. I will put My law in their minds 
and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and 
they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach 
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. 
For they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest 
of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, 
and their sin I will remember no more. So you can see there's 
really a twofold knowledge here. First, a redemptive writing of 
the law upon the hearts of New Covenant members. And secondly, 
this grander statement where it says, for they all shall know 
me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. So a reality, 
a prime reality of the New Covenant is that New Covenant members 
know God. And we would want to say that 
it is a saving knowledge. It's not just a bare, a mere 
propositional content, you know, true statements that we can read 
and we can affirm. but rather there is a saving 
reality connected to that. We're saved by grace through 
the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is a saving 
knowledge. We know our God savingly, and 
we also know blessed truths concerning Him. So thirdly, under the primacy 
and importance of the knowledge of God and its comprehensive 
Christian scope, we want to note that the primacy and importance 
of the knowledge of God is seen due to the abiding prevalence 
of false religion. Due to the abiding prevalence 
of false religion. Why is it that we should know 
God? Why is it prime? Why is it important that we know 
and study our God? Well, because of false religion. Until Christ comes, we will be 
in the midst of and we will be faced with false religion. The 
devil and his machinations, the sinful heart of men, the wickedness 
of the flesh, all prevail or all are prevalent in a sense 
and lie behind the reality of false religion. So we need to 
realize that. And I think one of the things 
that it goes back to the issue of monotheism, remember that 
we need to as Christians, we have to push beyond a bare monotheism 
in our affirmation of God, and in our study of God, and in our 
propagation and defense of the doctrine of God. I haven't heard 
it as much lately, but it was popular a number of years ago 
to talk about the Abrahamic faiths. you know, that we all just sort 
of, the Abrahamic faiths need to unite. Judaism, Islam, and 
Christianity. Can't we all just, we're all 
monotheists, we're all supposedly of the, you know, descendant 
faith of Abraham, so can't we all just get along? No, we can't. Now we can get along, we're not 
going to push each other in our yards and spit on each other 
as we walk past each other, but religiously speaking, we're not 
to unite and we're not to have truck with those religions because 
they deny the one and only living and true God. Yes, they may be 
monotheists, but they are not monotheists, biblically and properly 
speaking. Trinitarian monotheism is the 
only monotheism that is true, and we must defend that, of course, 
even unto death. So interfaith dialogue, political 
discourse, and even theological discourse that rallies around 
Abrahamic faiths is illegitimate. and other false religions, of 
course, out there are vying for prevalence, which is why we need 
to set forth the doctrine of God as primary and vital and 
important in our Christian lives. Lastly, under the primacy and 
importance of the knowledge of God, it is seen due to the ever-present 
existence of and influence of bad theology. Hillary, who was 
an early church father, from the fourth century, around 
the time of the Council of Nicaea, he wrote these words. He said, 
but the heirs of heretics and blasphemers force us to deal 
with unlawful matters, to scale perilous heights, to speak unutterable 
words, to trespass on forbidden ground. Faith ought in silence 
to fulfill the commandments, worshiping the Father, reverencing 
with him the Son, abounding in the Holy Ghost. But we must strain 
the poor resources of our language to express thoughts too great 
for words. The error of others compels us 
to err in daring to embody in human terms truths which ought 
to be hidden in the silent veneration of the heart. Ultimately, what 
he's saying is it would be great if we could, as Christians, simply 
bask in the knowledge of God and study him and, as he says 
here, hide those blessed things in the silent veneration of the 
heart. But because of the prevalence of false religion, because of 
the ever-present existence and influence of bad theology, we 
are compelled by those things to speak truths, to elaborate 
upon the doctrine of God, and to know God in a special way 
so that we can combat error in our day, to defend our great 
God. Not that he needs our defending, 
but you know what I mean. To defend the doctrine of God 
against those who are in grave error. So that is a brief introduction 
to the doctrine of God. Moving on then to, secondly, 
some preliminary observations and interpretive helps in the 
study of God. And the first thing is the necessary 
posture for those who study God. You've heard it before that, 
you know, when we've studied the doctrine of God, and I believe 
Dr. Renahan brings it out in his commentary on the Confession, 
we don't approach the doctrine of God as scientists studying 
a subject under a microscope and that sort of a thing. You 
know, we don't bring our beakers and our various implements of 
science to study something bare and cold. It is a high and lofty 
thing that we are doing. Calvin wrote, the knowledge of 
God does not rest in cold speculation, but carries with it the honoring 
of Him. And so the necessary posture 
for those who study God, I just set it forth as threefold. First 
off, the necessary posture is one of reverence. You can make 
a note, Psalm 89.7 speaks to this, and in fact, a lot of the 
Psalms speak to this, not only the Psalms, but the posture that 
we are to have is reverence. We are to have a godly fear. 
We are to revere Him, to honor Him, and with in view the reality 
that He is Creator and we are creature. The creature is to 
give honor and to give reverence to the One who has created us. 
That's something that comes to us by God's revelation naturally, 
but certainly comes to us by God's revelation supernaturally, 
that is, especially in His Word. We are to revere Him. Secondly, 
we are to have a posture of humility. Psalm 25.9 says, the humble he 
guides in justice, and the humble he teaches his way. You know, 
the prideful aren't going to learn about God or right. They're 
going to falter, they're going to fail, they're going to end 
up most likely in error, but the humble teaches the humble 
to the humble, God teaches his way. So we are to be found in 
reverence, we are to be found in humility, and we are to be 
found in joy, thirdly. The posture that we are to have 
is threefold, reverence, humility, and joy. Psalm 32, 11 reads, 
be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for 
joy, all you upright. You know, we are to be, as I 
said at the outset, joyful in the study of God. When we're 
commanded to know and understand Him as God's people, that's something 
we receive with great joy. With joyful obedience, we heed 
the command to know our God. Secondly, we need to commit to 
the exertion of mental energy. I think it's a necessary or an 
interpretive help, a preliminary observation. We need to commit 
to the exertion of mental energy. I think in any topic that we 
are studying within the scope of sacred science, the study 
of the word of God, we're to exert mental energy. But certainly 
with the doctrine of God, again, Augustine and no other subject 
is error more dangerous inquiry more laborious, or discovery 
of truth more profitable. And so we need to commit to the 
exertion of mental energy. As we work through the content 
of the paragraphs in future Sundays, we're going to see that there 
are a lot of big and interesting words that theologians have used 
to capture the knowledge of God. as we engage in our highest, 
our deepest, our most involved thoughts of God, are never actually 
going to truly capture Him. And so what we are able to capture 
by His revelation to us in the Word of God, what we are able 
to arrive at by necessary consequence from reading the Holy Scriptures, 
we see that it will be and it is delivered with some heavy 
words at times. and words hard to understand 
unless we exert mental energy. So a little mental energy, a 
little patience, going beyond our natural proclivity to laziness 
and to not exert mental energy is necessary as we study so great 
and so lofty a subject. Thirdly, we need to understand 
the vast and unbridgeable, bear with me here, ontological chasm 
that exists between God and man. Ontological simply means a study 
of being, a study of existence, but more importantly, the study 
of being. So, if we were to rephrase that, we would say we need to 
understand the vast and unbridgeable doctrine of being chasm that 
exists between God and man. God is wholly other, not of the 
same kind, not a constituent fellow in the same category of 
being as men and angels. I think it is an error of theology, 
not I think, it is an error of theology today in the vast sphere 
of evangelicalism to sort of put not sort of, to put God in 
the same category of being as men and angels and perhaps on 
a scale of being where you have, you know, I'm going to reverse 
the order that Jim normally does. He goes cat, dog. I'm putting 
dog at the bottom and then cat because I'm a cat guy. So you've got dog, cat, you've 
got the creatures, you've got dolphin, you've got the raven 
up there because it's a pretty clever creature, then you've 
got man, then you've got angels, and then you have God. As if 
we are to picture God as sort of a superman, in a sense, One 
man has used the term the uber Santa Claus, that he's, hey, 
he's omniscient, you know, he knows everything, and he's just 
a little bit higher than man, or he's some sort of Superman, 
in a sense. He's greater than men and angels, 
but he's in the same category of being, and bears some of the 
same identical attributes, though just in a greater scale or measure. That's not how we are to picture 
God. He is in a, he's not even, you 
know, He's not even in a class of his own, because if we were 
to say he's in a class of his own, that means that there's 
some sort of class that God is a constituent member of. He just 
is God. I am that I am. And so we need 
to understand that God is wholly other, that he is not a constituent 
fellow in the same category of being as men and angels. Dr. Dolezal spoke these words, or 
wrote these words, God cannot be located on a single chain 
of being with non-divine things. That's an important statement. 
God cannot be located on a single chain of being with non-divine 
things. So we need to understand that 
there is a great chasm between creator and creature. The language 
of the confession, notice there are three times in paragraph 
one where it speaks to God's incomprehensibility. Again, a 
qualifier there. When we say God is incomprehensible, 
we don't say that he isn't knowable. That doesn't mean that we can't 
know him. That simply means that we cannot capture his essence 
within the grip of finite knowledge. He is infinite. We are finite. And so in paragraph one, there 
are three times in just the first half of the paragraph where the 
confessionalists bring forth the incomprehensibility of God. 
Again, this vast doctrine of being chasm between God and man, 
between creator and creature. Notice the beginning of paragraph 
one of chapter two, the Lord our God is but one only living 
and true God whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite 
in being and perfection, Notice now, whose essence cannot be 
comprehended by any but himself. The one who is infinite, eternal, 
and unchangeable is the only one who can know what infinity, 
unchangeableness, and eternality is. He cannot, or his essence 
cannot be comprehended by any but himself. The second instance 
of, if we read on just a sentence later, Twelve words later, we 
see, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. That 
also speaks with regards to his incomprehensibility. And then 
the word itself is stated properly a few words later, he is immutable, 
immense, eternal, incomprehensible. And so there is this vast and 
unbridgeable chasm that exists between God and man, not with 
regards to sin, because Christ, of course, bridges that gap by 
his perfect work, but with regards to the creator-creature distinction, 
there is this unbridgeable chasm. So we can know God, but we cannot 
comprehend him as he is, because only the infinite can comprehend 
the infinite, the finite cannot. But thankfully and blessedly, 
God has condescended to reveal himself to us in the Holy Scriptures. And we'll talk more about incomprehensibility 
as we move forward in the study. Fourthly, under some preliminary 
observations and interpretive helps in the study of God, we 
must recognize the revelatory condescension of God. That is 
that in revealing himself to us, God has come down to meet 
us in our finite state. This is a wonderful quote by 
Calvin on this particular reality, that God has condescended to 
reveal himself to us in a way that we might understand, revelatory 
condescension. He's speaking here, the second 
word that he uses is anthropomorphites. There was a group of people that 
actually believed God had physical members. He had a physical form, 
arms, legs, hair, and a face. There are people today who call 
themselves Christians that still believe that. Kenneth Copeland 
says God's nine feet tall and has a body. So there are still 
heretics and strange people who call themselves Christians, but 
are not, that are anthropomorphites. So back to Calvin. The anthropomorphites 
also who imagine a corporeal god, that means a god who is 
physical, has a body, from the fact that scripture often ascribes 
to him a mouth, ears, eyes, hands, and feet, are easily refuted. 
For who even of slight intelligence does not understand that, as 
nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to lisp 
in speaking to us. Thus such forms of speaking do 
not so much express clearly what God is like as accommodate the 
knowledge of Him to our slight capacity. To do this, He must 
descend far beneath His loftiness." So we must recognize the revelatory 
condescension of God. There are statements in the scripture, 
God has a mighty right arm. There are statements in scripture 
such as the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding 
the good and the evil. There's language that God uses 
of himself, that he cries out as a woman in labor. There's 
language in the scriptures where we see God panting and gasping. So are we to take these literally? Of course not, and we'll get 
to more of that as we move along in the study. But we are to appreciate 
that God has condescended to our finite capacities in order 
to reveal the infinite to us. John of Damascus speaks these 
words, so he was a 7th century guy. Many of the things relating 
to God, therefore, that are dimly understood cannot be put into 
fitting terms, but on things above us we cannot do else than 
express ourselves according to our limited capacity. As for 
instance, when we speak of God, we use the terms sleep, and wrath, 
and regardlessness, hands too, and feet, and such like expressions. Since we find many terms used 
symbolically in the scriptures concerning God, which are more 
applicable to that which has body, we should recognize that 
it is quite impossible for us men, clothed about with this 
dense covering of flesh, to understand or speak of the divine and lofty 
and immaterial energies of the Godhead except by the use of 
images and types and symbols derived from our own life." So 
he's not talking about icons and actually, you know, a violation 
of the second commandment there, though he did violate the second 
commandment. But anyway, he's talking about words that we use 
in talking about God, and actually, before that, words that God uses 
in the revelation of himself to speak about himself and reveal 
himself. These things are given and rendered 
so that the finite might understand the infinite. God descends to 
our lower capacities from his loftiness in order to speak in 
ways that we might understand. Augustine, in like manner, says 
this, in order, therefore, that the human mind might be purged 
from falsities of this kind, that is, ascribing to God physical 
members and truly, literally, corporeal things, Holy Scripture, 
which suits itself to babes, has not avoided words drawn from 
any class of things really existing, through which, as by nourishment, 
our understanding might rise gradually to things divine and 
transcendent. For in speaking of God, it has 
both used words, that is the Holy Scriptures, It has both 
used words taken from creature, or excuse me, taken from things 
corporeal, as when it says, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, 
and it has borrowed many things from the spiritual creature, 
whereby to signify that which indeed is not so, but must needs 
be said, as for instance, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
and it repenteth me that I have made man. So we need to realize 
the revelatory condescension of God. Fifthly, we need to recognize 
the legitimacy of the use of logical consequences. Pastor 
Butler touched upon this last time from paragraph 6 of chapter 
1, that the Word of God is both those things that are expressly 
set down and then secondly, those things that are necessarily contained 
by logical deduction and consequence. And actually, the Savior, I think 
Jim touched upon this in Luke 24, Jesus Christ used this and 
expected that you use logical deduction and logical consequence 
as legitimate along with those things expressly set down when 
he's talking to his disciples, saying that you should have known 
that the Son of God was to suffer at the hands of wicked men to 
be crucified and raised the third day. There were no Old Testament 
passages that said that there will be a man, Jesus Christ from 
Nazareth, who will come forth, the Son of God, who will be crucified 
at the hands of of an insurgent state, a tyrannical state, also 
by the wicked hands of the Jews, who will on the third day rise 
again from a tomb, the rock of which will be rolled back, et 
cetera, et cetera. There's no statement in the Old Testament 
that says that, and yet Christ indicts in a friendly way, sort 
of challenges the disciples saying, Why are you of such little faith 
that you didn't understand that the Son of God was to be crucified 
and to be raised the third day? He expected them to go to certain 
passages of Scripture and draw the logical conclusion by a spirit-wrought 
mind that the Christ would suffer and would rise again the third 
day. So all of that to come back to the fact that we need to recognize 
the legitimacy of the use of logical consequences in the study 
of the doctrine of God. Dr. James Renahan uses these 
words, speaking about logical consequence. He says, the question 
in one sense is this, is the use of reason appropriate in 
understanding Scripture, and is the result of the use of logic 
binding for the result of interpretation? The simple answer to this question 
among the particular Baptists is yes. So the use of reason 
and logical consequence is legitimate, and as he says here, is binding. Those things derived from necessary 
consequence are just as binding as those things expressly set 
down. Sixthly, and we're running out 
of time, just as I had prophesied. I'm not a prophet, but just as 
I expected. Sixthly, we need to recognize the joint propriety 
of affirmations and denials. What I simply mean is positive 
statements and negative statements regarding God. A positive statement 
regarding God would be from the confession that God is most loving. That's a positive statement. 
A negative statement or a denial would be he is immutable. He 
is impassable. He is incomprehensible. He is 
most absolute. That's a negative statement because 
ab is a prefix that negates that which follows it. All this to 
say is that in our discussion, in our discourse concerning God, 
and in fact in God's revelation of himself, he both uses affirmations, 
I am a God of love, and denials, I am not like men. So in our 
study of the doctrine of God, in our study of the Confession, 
in simply our study of what the Bible says concerning God, we 
will come across both affirmations and denials, and these have a 
joint propriety. They're both good things. In 
fact, there are more statements about what God is not like than 
there are statements about what He is like. Stephen Charnock 
says, though we cannot comprehend him as he is, we must be careful 
not to fancy him to be what he is not. It's an important statement 
because a lot of our discussion concerning God, contra-error, 
contra-false religion, contra-heretics, contra-assuming that he's like 
men and angels, is to say what he is not like. He is immutable. He does not change. He is incomprehensible. He cannot be contained within 
the grasp of human and finite knowledge. And so, again, we 
need to recognize the joint propriety of affirmations and denials. 
I'll give you a sneak peek as to the last two points. Next 
time what we'll do is we'll be able to dive deeper into the 
confession because point three is an introduction to the confessional 
presentation of the doctrine of God. The last two points, 
and we'll continue very briefly with them next time under preliminary 
observations and interpretive helps in the study of God, are 
these. We need to divest ourselves of 
the tendency to let the text speak instead of letting the 
Bible speak. Very often we can take texts 
in isolation and we can assert things concerning God or concerning 
any matter of theology, without understanding it and properly 
placing it within the larger scope of what the Bible says 
on that topic. And it's important with the doctrine 
of God, and we'll cite some historical examples of where the heretics 
have sought to let the text speak instead of letting the Bible 
speak, and then Lastly, under the preliminary observations 
and interpretive helps is we need to recognize the legitimacy 
of the use of extra-biblical words when we talk about God. God has blessed us with intelligibility, 
rationality, such that we can use words that aren't contained 
in the Bible in order to adequately explain what is contained in 
the Bible so that we might fight against the heretics and properly 
instruct the people of God in certain doctrinal matters. And 
so those are some things, again, I think it's, hopefully it was 
helpful. to some degree, as we try to frame our minds in the 
study of God, because we need to protect ourselves and gird 
ourselves up against error and against faulty ways of interpreting 
God and studying God when we go about learning of Him, which 
is a joyful command that we cheerfully obey as we go about our Christian 
sojourn. So I'll pray, and then if there 
are any questions, you can feel free to ask. Let's pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this time. We rejoice again in the 
privilege and the freedom we have to gather here as the saints 
of Christ. We rejoice in the forgiveness 
of sins, salvation by Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior. We pray now 
as we go into worship in a half hour, we pray that you attend 
to our hearts, that we might worship you in spirit and in 
truth, that we might revere you in humility and with great joy. 
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ,