Incommunicable Attributes of God

[0:00] Let's go ahead and start talking about today's lesson, which is the incommunicable attributes! Now, theologians have studied God's attributes from the beginning of our faith.

[0:24] ! Or, a word I like, it sounds older, but I think I like it more, God's perfections.

[0:36] Because whatever God is, He is perfectly that. For example, God is loving, but He's not just loving. We know that God is completely loving, or that God is perfectly loving.

[0:50] God is righteous, but He's not just a little bit righteous. He's not just kind of righteous. We know that God is perfectly righteous. And He can be loving and righteous both at the same time.

[1:04] He can be loving and just both at the same time. Perfectly loving, and yet also simultaneously perfectly just. Now, it's essential that we study these aspects of God's character so that we can know God more deeply and show Him the love and respect that He is due.

[1:22] Now, one of the most common ways that these traits of God's character have been organized is by putting them into two categories. The categories are the communicable attributes of God and the incommunicable attributes of God.

[1:38] Now, the communicable attributes of God's character are the traits that we also share with Him. We are made in His image. And so it would follow that there are aspects of our character that we share with God.

[1:55] For example, we know that God is love. Scripture teaches that clearly. But we also know that we can love. Now, our love is, of course, just a dim shadow of the fullness of God's love.

[2:09] But we're capable of love in the same way that God is merciful, and He is perfectly merciful. He is mercy in its fullness. But we also know that we, too, can show mercy.

[2:20] And so we share in this with God. These attributes of His character are communicated to us. These are the communicable attributes. And there are many others that you would add to that.

[2:30] But there are also the incommunicable attributes of God's character. These are His traits that are unique to Him alone. Now, as I say this, and I'm going to give you some examples, you could also kind of think, well, you know, maybe those are unique only to God.

[2:51] But we also share in those just a little bit as well. And I would say I have to agree. In studying this, I found these two categories really aren't that helpful, to be perfectly honest. So the incommunicable attributes.

[3:03] Common examples. There are many, but these ones are very common. Eternality. His omnipresence. God is everywhere. His omniscience.

[3:14] He's all-knowing. His omnipotence. That He is all-powerful. He is the Almighty. His transcendence. God is here.

[3:35] God is here. God is near to us. His wisdom. God's sovereignty. These are just some of the incommunicable attributes that are often ascribed to God.

[3:46] But there are others. And unfortunately, just because we don't have enough time, we are not going to be able to describe all of these. So tonight we have chosen just four, and we're going to talk about these. Now, my hope is that we can define each one of these attributes of God's character, that we can look at scriptural evidence together, and then that you all can spend time at your tables discussing these doctrines, and then we'll come back together and talk about it as a group.

[4:15] So firstly, we're going to look at the fact that our God is eternal. And so we hear a lot about the word infinite or infinity.

[4:25] When I was a little kid, I got really enamored with this idea because I thought the number one million was the biggest possible number. And everything was, we were always thinking about ways to be millionaires, millionaires.

[4:37] And then I heard my cousin say, oh, no, there's a bigger number. It's called infinity. And I started thinking, can I have infinity dollars? You know, that was always the goal.

[4:48] And it was just ridiculous. And I got enamored with that because it's beyond our comprehension. It never ends. And we know that our God is eternal. So the way that you can describe his eternality is that our God is infinite in respect to time.

[5:06] He has no beginning. He has no end. Indeed, he is the alpha and the omega as he defines himself. Now, those of us who have grown up in the church, you've heard this all your lives.

[5:21] It's something I think that we take for granted, just that God is eternal. But when we actually stop and think about this, I think it is incredibly deep because we are finite creatures.

[5:36] We are born in time. Time is affecting all of us right now. For your benefit, thankfully, I'm absolutely clearly aware of the time in the back of the room where we'd be locked here forever.

[5:47] And yet, the thought that God is outside of time, that he is in no way impacted by time, that he had no beginning.

[5:59] You can't even use the ideas of beginning and end with him because they don't apply to him. Those even imply time. And he's outside of it. It's really powerful. And this really struck me.

[6:10] I was talking with a friend who was a Muslim. And I was talking with him about the Trinity. Because again, just like last week, Muslims always attack the Trinity. That's the first thing. And we're just going around and around the Trinity.

[6:22] And he's like, I could never believe a God that I could not understand. Which even that alone is a problem. And I said, okay. Do you believe that God's eternal?

[6:34] And he's like, yeah, of course. Absolutely. And I was like, explain that to me. No beginning. No end. Always was. Always is. Always shall be.

[6:46] Can you truly understand that as a finite being? And I watched my Muslim friend think about it. And he's like, you're right. I can't understand that all the way.

[6:57] I was like, exactly. And yet you think in God's being, you can understand him all the way. So that was for me one of the moments when I started thinking about this doctrine. And realizing just how significant it is.

[7:08] But also how deep it is. For example, if we were to ask how old is God? We would be asking the wrong question. That's something little kids ask. But it's like that doesn't apply to him.

[7:19] It implies that he's subject to time. Which according to the scriptures, he is not. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Now, as I was typing this, both of my elbows were in pain because I worked out.

[7:35] Now, I'm going to say this. Don't laugh. I'm 34 years old. That didn't used to happen to me when I was 24. But now, every time I work out, I feel it the next day in a way that I never did.

[7:50] Just the passing of 10 years has really started to impact me. And I know y'all have lived longer than I have. Yeah, exactly. That's what everyone always says. And I know. I'm looking at you and I see my destiny.

[8:02] Because we're all subject to time. But it's a good destiny, Willard. It's a good destiny. I was in my 70s. I felt young.

[8:13] I could be a lot. Now, I'm almost 90. I could sure tell the difference. And brother, you even think about that. Brother, you're almost 90 years old. You've almost lived a century.

[8:25] That's amazing, Oscar. God has been good to you. And I had good health. Absolutely. And yet, you think in the span of a man's lifespan, in comparison to the Lord, it's vapor.

[8:37] It's smoke. It's here and then it's gone. And brother, you have lived so long that for other people, I mean, they can really hardly think about that. 90 years old. That's amazing. Still a year, nine months away.

[8:49] Yeah, sure. You're almost there. Praise the Lord. You're not eternal. You're eternal. Yeah. No, it's true. It's true. Guys, think about your biggest problem.

[9:05] And so when I was a little kid, it used to be problems. But something's nice about a little kid, when you're a little kid, it seems like bad problems. They go away pretty quickly.

[9:15] Then I became an adult and I realized there are problems sometimes that don't have an easy answer. Sometimes they don't have an answer this side of eternity. And those problems just keep going and they don't stop.

[9:28] And that's hard. It's like, man, you think about these problems and you ask like, Lord, why don't these problems go away? But then when we step back and we compare the weight of those problems to the weight of God's eternality, I think it helps us see those problems in the right perspective.

[9:47] For us, hugely significant. But in light of who God is, fairly minor. Not to diminish our problems, but I think it helps us have a better perspective.

[10:02] Before I and my problems existed, God was. And after I die, God will be. And because of Christ, I will be with him, which is something that we can all say because of what Jesus has done.

[10:17] Now, a related doctrine, something that's connected with this idea of God's eternality is another incommunicable doctrine. His immutability. His constancy.

[10:28] This is the idea that God does not change. And this is something that's just connected. We don't have a lot of time, but it is something to think about. He is eternally who he has been.

[10:40] And that's a wonderful truth to really think about. So scriptural support. Could somebody please read Psalm 90, two to four for us? Thank you, brother.

[10:53] Psalm 90, two to four. Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed, you are God without the name of the name. You speak, and man turns back to dust. A thousand years are but as yesterday to you.

[11:06] You are like a single power. Amen. Thank you for that, brother. Yeah, I mean, I know all of us have seen mountains. And you look at them, they're truly ancient.

[11:17] And possibly so. They make everything that's ever been built by humans just look like it's brand new. I mean, these are truly old. And before those were ever brought forth, God was from everlasting to everlasting.

[11:31] It's an incredibly powerful idea. Now, of course, we have some other scriptures here. We have Genesis 1-1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, which is a wonderful idea really to think about because before anything was, he was.

[11:50] Mm-hmm. So why don't we do this? We're at our tables. So we have these passages here. Why don't we take the next minutes?

[12:02] If you would go through these passages together. And then we have four questions there. So go ahead and answer those questions. And then we'll come back together as a group and we'll discuss the answers.

[12:14] And we're going to do this with each of these four doctrines. All right, brothers and sisters, let's come together.

[12:26] I heard a lot of really good discussion. First question, Exodus 3-14, deeply, deeply significant verse because Moses says, who shall I say sent me?

[12:41] This is God's opportunity to define himself. And he says, I am. Why is that so significant? It speaks of sovereignty.

[12:54] I will be what I will be. Yes. Yeah. And he will be that constant. Yes, exactly. And it's like his people, man, 400 years of bondage.

[13:07] It's terrible. It's unbelievable. It seems like it's never going to end. And it's like, but their God is eternal. And he's going to act on their behalf. What you need to do is find out a way to understand, at least I do, and I think everybody else too, in the world, forever.

[13:23] What is the definition of eternal? Definition of eternal. Yeah. What is the definition of eternal? Always. And how do we make that?

[13:36] How do we think about it? No. Yeah. No, it's really hard. Ted said that. I mean, it's like everything we think of has a beginning and an end. It has to. We're born in time. We live under time.

[13:46] And we'll all exit time, you know. As Christians, we die and go to heaven and we're with God forever. Forever. As non-Christians, we die and go to hell forever.

[13:58] Forever. Eternal life. And I believe eternal death. And I think that's the clear teaching of Scripture. Something that we talked about in Psalm 45, it talks about the Lord's throne being forever.

[14:12] And I hadn't even noticed it until reading this. I had thought about as him in his eternality. But it goes to what Willer just said. It's his sovereignty. Not only is he forever, he's forever in charge.

[14:24] Forever. And there's never been a moment when he wasn't completely in charge of everything that was happening. So even when the whole world looked like it was spinning out of control, completely in charge.

[14:34] So with that, what was the answer to the first question? So the first question, and this one is kind of a joke. So what do you think God was doing before the creation of the world?

[14:45] So a little boy asked this to Augustine. And Augustine said to the little boy, creating a hell for people who ask questions like you.

[14:59] And that was written down. That is true. Calvin repeated it and thought it was funny. So this is in history. So what's the answer to that?

[15:10] And this kind of goes to what we were talking about last week. What is perfection? Is it singularity? Is it being alone? Or is it community? And so the answer would be that the triune God was eternally enjoying the communion of himself.

[15:25] The triune God was eternally enjoying being together. And amazingly, we get invited into that. And it's a beautiful thought. So it's... Think as well. You know, Psalms say his throne is eternal.

[15:39] Mm-hmm. So he sat on a throne and he turned to the past. So he's ruling and reigning. Absolutely. Over spirit beings, no doubt. Yep. Now there's another answer in Acts 2.23.

[15:54] I don't know it. Hit me. Okay. Let me read it out. Yeah, please. Because it's belted out in the other hand. It says, This Jesus, when delivered up, I talked about the crucifixion, according to the definite and fixed purpose and settled plan and foreknowledge of God.

[16:14] King James calls it divine counsel. Yes. Of God. It's the idea that the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, prior to creation, met in counsel, determining salvation and how it's going to be...

[16:30] What elements are that included? Yeah. Which is why we can say with the scripture that Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundations of the earth. So they were in counsel, planning salvation.

[16:42] Yes. During the key past. Absolutely. Yeah. Which makes me a Calvinist, you know? So it makes me comfortable with the doctrines of grace as well.

[16:53] Just because time flees, question, let's look at the second half of question two. How does an understanding of God's eternality help us understand the significance of human activities and achievements?

[17:09] Guys, I can say I am a student of history. I love history, and I always have. When I was a little boy, I was steeped in Greek and Roman history.

[17:21] These incredible empires that were built. Unbelievable. And where are they? They're gone. They're gone. They're heaps of rubble. And at the time, especially the Roman Empire, people thought this will last forever.

[17:38] It can't fall. It's too big. There's no way. When I was born, I was born in 1988. Our country was probably nearing the peak of its global power all time.

[17:53] All through the 80s, 90s, into the early thousands, we were undisputed masters of the earth. It was Pax Americana. It doesn't feel like that anymore.

[18:05] It feels like there's a slide. And it's happened in my life. The speed is unbelievable. We went from being lords of the earth to having riots in our own streets.

[18:17] I saw that. Yeah. And that shook me. Because I grew up, you know, just a proud American. And I am still. We're untouchable. Unless we fragment ourselves.

[18:31] Boy, it goes fast. Boy, it goes fast. And I don't want to put my hope in any human, in any human achievement, in any human entity, in any government, any organization.

[18:41] I want to put my hope in He who is eternal, who has eternally been on the throne, and who is eternally the rock of His people's salvation. I want to put my hope, my trust in God, and I want to live for Him.

[18:53] And I think one of the ultimate examples sounds, you know, maybe a little dark, but I think of Hitler in his thousand-year Reich that lasted 12 years.

[19:05] Yeah. Yeah, Hitler thought it was going to last a thousand. It lasted a thousand years before it was bombed to powder by America and crushed by Russian tanks.

[19:16] And, I mean, what other human entities are not that way? We say, oh, these things will be forever. I mean, I even, I talk with my father, and it's so funny. He talks about, my father is a college football player.

[19:30] And as an athlete, he has an unbelievable memory of every game he ever played in. And, you know, for an athlete, you're on the field, they would literally give their life sometimes.

[19:43] Like, that's how important this is. And my dad will tell me about a game between the Air Force Academy that he played for in San Diego State in 1979.

[19:57] Monumental. Monumental. And, guys, no one cares. It's over. The world moved on. In this event, that for those who were there, it was so important.

[20:08] I mean, you could barely find record of it on the Internet now. Much less 1969, 1949, 1909. I mean, it's gone. And I look at photos.

[20:20] Because, again, I love history. And I think especially, these ones have always touched me, photos from World War I. Because it's all these young men going off to war.

[20:32] The war to end all wars. They're black and white photos. These are 18 and 19 years old. And they're at the peak of human ability.

[20:42] These are young men. And whether they lived or died in the war is irrelevant. They're dead and gone. And most of these photos, they're anonymous.

[20:53] No one even knows who this person was. That's only 100 years ago. It's just incredible to me how quickly things go. How quickly things pass. It's like we just go to his is eternal.

[21:05] Now he's temporary. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. And you say temporary. That's linked to the word temporal. Which means time. Like we are just dominated by time.

[21:17] And there's nothing we can do to get away from it. Nick, I remember when Phillips and Conoco. Yes. Talking about merging and everything is going to shift. The Houston.

[21:29] The CEO of Phillips at the time. Had a meeting. Had a meeting with the pastor. That's right. And.

[21:41] Really? We went up there. Yeah. We went up there. Wow. And. We went up there. And. He just wanted to get our input. And. Share with us what. The philosophy was in this.

[21:52] But I'll never forget. What. The pastor. At first Baptist. Spartans. Most of the time. Said. That. Uh. You know. Because. Hearing all this. All this.

[22:03] Business from him. And he. Pastor said. That just doesn't wash. What you're saying just doesn't wash. He said. But he made this statement. He said. Because.

[22:14] You know. He was going to lose a lot of members. Moving to Houston. Oh yeah. Because of that. Oh yeah. And. That of course. Financial. Burdens too.

[22:24] For sure. So he was a little upset. To say the least. But he. But he made this statement. And. He said. He said. I realize.

[22:35] That whatever Phillips does. Is not going to have an effect. On the kingdom of God. But. Then he goes.

[22:45] To say. That's his case. But. To myself. Did you hear what you just said? Yeah. You know. And. And that's the way it is. With our problems. And the activities.

[22:56] Of human. The human race. And all of that. It doesn't affect the kingdom of God. No. Not at all. The kingdom of God. Is the kingdom of God. And it's going to be what it's going to be. Absolutely. Yeah. 100%.

[23:07] So. Why should we get too upset? Which we do. And rightfully so I think. When we see the ungodliness. And wickedness. So transparent.

[23:18] So rapidly. In our generation. Brother. I'm so glad you said that. And it makes me think. The number of Christians. That I felt lost hope.

[23:30] In the last few years. And I started to wonder. Who is your hope in? Yeah. Right. Where is your hope placed? Yeah. Because Christ. Is still Lord. And he's coming back.

[23:41] And it's as if. I mean like. I'm talking. Depression. Despondent. And I'm looking at that. And it's just like. Do we read the same Bible? We have to. Because you're the one who taught.

[23:53] Taught it to me. And yet I feel like you're giving up. Or something like that. Yeah. This thing with Anne Heider-Busch. Oh yeah. Sure. I read this morning.

[24:04] They're losing billions of dollars. Billions. Devastating. Because people are rebelling against. Yes. Against what they've done. So I read some of that this morning. I thought to myself. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely.

[24:16] There's still some good people. That are making a difference. Absolutely. But it's not going to make a difference. In the kingdom of God. Yep. Yeah. You know. And even. Even talking about that. I think something. The things of God.

[24:28] Last. And we look at the things. Of this world. Yeah. And how they go from. Issue to issue. To issue. To issue. To issue. I. We can't even keep up with them anymore. It's unbelievable. Yeah.

[24:39] One of the articles. Mentioned. Mentioned that. This new. Well I say new on the scene for us. Of all this.

[24:50] Transgender. Yes. Identity stuff. That's sweeping everything. He said what this really is. Is just. A mental psychological. Phase.

[25:02] That we're going through now. Like we have with other stuff. Throughout. Generations. And. But it's a real problem. Because it's a mental issue. It's not a social issue.

[25:15] It's a mental issue. And. That just sweeps through. So. You know. And it'll. If. If time. If time. If God. Tarries is coming.

[25:26] All right. It'll phase out. Absolutely. It will. Something else will come. Yes. For sure. Same. Yeah. And it's. It's so interesting. You think about. You know. It's a mental issue. Clearly. I think we'd all agree.

[25:37] It's a spiritual issue. Right. It's. It's the creature. Looking at the creator. And saying. You made me wrong. I'm going to remake myself. How I want to do it. It's like.

[25:48] The arrogance there. You do not get to say to God. That he made a mistake. And yet our culture does. That's why God said. Don't eat of the tree of good and evil. For the knowledge of good and evil.

[25:59] Self-determination. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. You know. It was. It was funny. I was in. I went to Ireland this last year. And we think we got this gay thing bad here.

[26:10] We're driving around. We're in Northern Ireland. We're in Belfast. Beautiful city. All this beautiful old architecture. And there's. There's British flags. You know. The Union Jack.

[26:21] It's an old flag. It's an old symbol. And we turn the street. And the entire street. Is lined with gay flags. Hundreds of them. But they're not just gay flags.

[26:32] It's that new one. That also has that triangle. On the side. Have you guys noticed that? Yeah. So it's. It's the rainbow flag. But then it has a triangle. That's all these other colors. So.

[26:43] The rainbow is. Is for gays and lesbians. And the triangle is for all the transgenders. My neighbor flies it. Literally next to my house all the time. And I looked at that.

[26:53] And I thought. I had just seen the Union Jack. It's been the same flag for 300 years. Yeah. And I turn the street. And I see all these flags. And I'm like. When did like this triangle thing.

[27:04] And get added. Yeah. When were we all consulted on that. That this is the symbol. Nobody was. It was just added. And I said. I was with my dad and my brothers. And I said. I like flags.

[27:16] That don't change. Yeah. Instead of something. You can just change overnight. You know. And I said. I. I believe in the Union Jack. Right. But more than that. I believe in the American flag.

[27:26] And yet. Even as I say that. Most of you were born. When there were only 48 stars on that flag. Yeah. Even that flag changes. You know. Even the things we look. We look at.

[27:37] For humans. It's like. Yeah. That's unchanging. That is not true. But it's always changed. Yeah. Look at what it was when it began. Oh. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[27:48] We'll see if Puerto Rico gets added in there. You know. 51 stars. Washington. Yeah. Oh. Heavens. And the thing with the triangle. It's going to have to always change.

[27:59] Because they're always adding. Always. Yeah. To that LG. Absolutely. For sure. Yeah. They can't figure out what they want to be. No. I mean. I think it's the craziest thing.

[28:09] I know. Because I was there. 15 or 20 years ago. If you had said men would get married. We all would have been like. That's ridiculous. That'll never happen. Yeah. Five years ago. If you would have said. We would have transgenders running around.

[28:22] In girls sports. Girls locker rooms. Their faces on our beer cans. I mean. We're Baptists. After all. You know. I would have been like. That's ridiculous. That'll never happen. And here we are.

[28:33] And have an administration. That goes for all of that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Unbelievable. Now. We are not going to get through all four of these.

[28:44] Let's look at the next one. Let's look at omnipresence together. And we'll do it in an abbreviated form. And then we'll call it an evening. So.

[28:56] Eternality. God is infinite. In respect to time. He's also omnipresent. And a way you can define that. Is that he is infinite. In respect to location.

[29:07] He's everywhere. Because our God is infinite. So. That means that there's no place that God is not. It also means that our God cannot be measured. Nor can he be contained.

[29:18] In any structure. Or in any part of the world. Now this is significant. Again. I. I worked with. With Muslims.

[29:29] And so. It affected me. Watching them. Talk about God. I. I knew a guy. He. He walked in. He went to a bathroom. In Russia. In Russia. And these.

[29:40] Guys. I mean. These areas are really poor. And these bathrooms can just be. Just. Unbelievable. And he talked about how that was a place where. Like God couldn't see you.

[29:51] Because it's. It's impure. So God. God wasn't there. And so he said. You don't want to say God's name. When you're in the bathroom. There's something there. And.

[30:01] And they also have the idea. That if a place is dirty. That's a place where demons are. So if there's a room. That's all ramshackle. And disorganized. A Muslim person will get really uncomfortable.

[30:12] Because this is the type of place. That to their mind. Attracts demons. And it was like. Listen to what you're saying. You're saying that your God is limited. And that somehow. A bathroom.

[30:24] Can affect him. He doesn't sound all powerful to me. Yeah. Absolutely. But then. There's other things that they would do. It's like. A Muslim girl.

[30:35] Say where I lived in Europe. In Bosnia. She couldn't get pregnant. She might go to. A lady who's like a witch. And they would. They would do some spells.

[30:45] A lot of times. They would like. Take a page out of the Quran. Dissolve it in a glass of water. Have her drink that water. They'd put some magical bracelets on her.

[30:56] Have her wear an amulet. And then they would tell her. To like walk barefoot. Up a mountain. To a waterfall. And if you pray at that waterfall. Then God will hopefully answer your prayers.

[31:07] And you'll conceive. And then you said. Hopefully. Hopefully. Hopefully. No absolute. No absolute. But the idea is that there are certain places. That are more powerful.

[31:18] And it's like. Yeah. My God is everywhere. Yeah. He's not uniquely in Israel. My God's everywhere equally. And one of the questions we would ask together.

[31:31] Is about church buildings. And it's important for us to think about. Is it a good thing to have a nice building? Absolutely it is. That's a great thing. Not going to criticize that.

[31:41] We have great facilities here. First Baptist has a great building. I love that. More power to you. I love cathedrals in Europe. That's wonderful. But will God hear your prayers more.

[31:52] Because you pray in a beautiful cathedral. That took a hundred years to build. More than he'll hear it in your own prayer closet. Absolutely not. He hears us all equally. And humans have lost their minds.

[32:03] Trying to compete with each other. Who can build the best structure. Because God will really hear us here. It's like no. He hears us everywhere. Because he is everywhere. And you know.

[32:15] Back in the day. People used to think you needed to go on pilgrimage. Especially like in Europe. They used to go to the Holy Land. And they would give everything. To go on a pilgrimage.

[32:26] To go to Jerusalem. Because they thought. If they go there and they pray there. Then that's especially powerful. They're especially near to God. But I don't think they ever really thought about the fact. That God was everywhere. Equally.

[32:37] All the time. You don't have to go to Israel to find him. He's right here. And in him we live and move. And have our being. I read this today.

[32:50] And I really like this. So I wanted to include it. This is by a Baptist theologian. Named Timothy George. He said. The doctrine of God's omnipresence. Is one of the most comforting truths.

[33:00] In all of scripture. It reminds us. That we can never outrun. The power. And providence. Of our great Lord. God is equidistant. To his people. Wherever they are.

[33:11] He hears their prayers. And receives their worship. Whether it is offered in giant cathedrals. Or tiny churches. In the great cities of Europe. And North America. In the steamy jungles.

[33:22] Of the equator. Or the frigid isolation. Of the North Pole. Every place. Is full of his glory. And guys. I get to do this from my job. I get to go to these little villages.

[33:32] That are on. Like literally. The edge of the earth. In the middle of nowhere. Like we're talking. Rural Laos. And it's like. Even people from Laos. Don't know where this is. You're in this village.

[33:43] And it's like. Holy smokes. And there will be a church there. And there's a pastor. And there are Christians. And they meet in a little wooden house. And God is as close to them.

[33:54] As he is to us. And it's. That is a wonderful truth. So let's read this passage together. Psalm 139. 7 to 10. Would somebody read that for us please?

[34:05] Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven. You are there. If I make my bed and shield.

[34:15] You are there. If I take the wings of the morning. And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there your hand shall lead me. And your right hand shall hold me. So.

[34:28] It's about as inclusive as you could possibly be. The heavens above. The earth below. Even the sea. God's there. What were you saying brother? Rocky. What did you say? He's everywhere. Yeah. He's everywhere.

[34:39] Wherever that might be. Yes. I love that. He's everywhere. Wherever that might be. I think that's beautifully said. And he's there. All at the same time.

[34:50] All at the same time. Yeah. It's incredible. So. First question. And this convicted me. Because I'll be honest with you. I don't always treat you guys the way I treat my wife.

[35:04] Sometimes I'm a jerk to her. Unfortunately. Because you guys aren't watching me. But at church on Sundays. I am the best husband. I'm so considerate.

[35:15] I'm so nice. And she pestered me today. And I snapped at her. And I apologized afterwards. And I was like. Man I can't believe I did that. And it's like. But I would never have done that in front of y'all.

[35:25] No way. No way. You will. Maybe. Maybe. But the point being. When y'all are watching me. I'm on my best behavior. But why am I.

[35:37] If God is everywhere equally. Then that means he sees me. All the time. Shouldn't that be what's controlling my behavior? Shouldn't I always be the same person?

[35:48] Because it's not about humans watching me. It's about the Lord watching me. So I would never snap at my wife in front of y'all. But I would snap at her in front of my Lord. It's like.

[35:59] I haven't internalized the fact. That my God is everywhere. And he's with me all the time. He sees everything. And he's the only witness that truly counts. What do you guys think about that?

[36:11] I'm sorry? That's earthiness. You know. And that's the problem with being earthy. Thank God for the glorified body when we get there. There we go. I don't know.

[36:23] Whether it's subconsciously or what. We're always. We're always focused on the fact. That we're human. With all the characteristics attributes of our humanity.

[36:35] Yeah. It's up here. We know that. So that's why. That's why we have to. In essence. Work in submitting to the spirit of God. To overcome that.

[36:47] Yes. And to do that 24-7. It's hard. Just a little bit. Yeah. So. Next time you snap at your wife.

[37:01] Just say. Sorry. Sorry dear. It's my humanity. Indeed. Indeed. You bring the human out of me. You know. And the way she responds. It may be your humanity.

[37:13] She responded in the spirit actually. Yeah. Yeah. So. We're going to have to readdress it. Because I need to apologize more. Yeah. No. For sure. I told her. I said. I'm sorry.

[37:23] I was mean to you. And she said. Yeah. You're usually not like that. You know. I'm like. Oh. Okay. Let's look at the third question.

[37:37] Because I think we already kind of addressed holy places. Israel. Rome. Branson. You know. Like. Okay. Since God is everywhere already. Why was the fact that Christ was Emmanuel.

[37:51] God with us. So significant. Our human eyes and mind could understand. Yeah. Absolutely.

[38:02] Yes. Because God was already everywhere. But in the person of Christ Jesus. He was going to enter into our human experience. Unbelievable. Just like Willard said.

[38:12] So we could see him. You know. John even wrote about seeing him and hearing him. Touching him with his own hands in 1 John. And through the gospels.

[38:22] We have that privilege as well. What are you going to say? It's amazing. Well. I shouldn't. You shouldn't think of it amazing. But it is. That God so thoroughly knows us.

[38:33] That he knows we need some physical. Mm-hmm. Human form to understand what. Yes. Who he is. Yes. And he also knows we are so idolatrous. There are no paintings of Jesus.

[38:44] There are no statues of him. Because if there were. We would worship it. Yeah. Yeah. We have words. Yeah. That's it. And what do you know? That's enough. Yeah. Last question.

[38:56] How is God's presence. Connected to the fulfillment. Of the great commission. Let me. Let me turn there. And let me read the great commission to you. And think about.

[39:10] God's. Omnipresence. In what Jesus says. All authority in heaven. And on earth. Has been given to me.

[39:21] Go therefore. And make disciples. Of all nations. Baptizing them. In the name of the father. And of the son. And of the holy spirit. Teaching them to observe. All that I have commanded you.

[39:33] No. That's not it. And behold. I am with you. Always. To the end. Of the age. So it's like. How can we accomplish.

[39:44] The great commission. On our own. No way. Absolutely impossible. But he goes with us. He's with us. All the time. And there's. I don't know.

[39:54] There are. One of the things. We were going to talk about. But a last time ran out. When you read. Missions history. And it is. It's.

[40:04] It can't be done. It'll just be like. A little European guy. Showing up in Malaysia. Or something like that. By himself. And he is going to face down. All this darkness.

[40:14] On his own. Not possible. He can't even speak the language. It's. It can't happen. And yet people get saved. And churches get planted. It's like. God was with this man.

[40:26] And time and again. When you read the stories. Of missionaries. They are. Persecuted. They are hunted. Powerful enemies. Are coming after him. They're completely alone. Totally unarmed. And time and again.

[40:37] They're delivered. By the power of the Lord. Because he's with them. And that. That happens. Even now. I've. I've gotten to talk with. You know. Even in my job. At VOM. The number of pastors.

[40:49] I've gotten to talk with. Who talk about. Fleeing in the night. Because the police. Are coming. For them. In the night. And they run into the jungle. Or something like that. And they're delivered. We were able to give.

[41:02] Some motorcycles. To pastors. And. They were really excited. About these motorcycles. And. The idea was that. They could drive around. To villages. And they said. Yeah. We're so excited.

[41:12] About these motorcycles. Because. Usually. When they try to come. Arrest us at night. We drive. On our cheap. Chinese motorcycles. And they break down.

[41:23] In the middle of the jungle. In the middle of the night. And so suddenly. You're alone. In the forest. By yourself. And it's. I mean. Pitch black out there. Unbelievable. And they're like. The motorcycles.

[41:33] You gave us. They're Japanese. They'll get us. To the next village. You know. And it was like. Wow. Okay. I wasn't expecting. That answer. But it humbled me. You know. It just.

[41:43] It displayed their courage. Brothers and sisters. Time flees. Nick. Can I show you. Sir. Absolutely. I love the way. The Amplified. Rides. Verse 20.

[41:54] Matthew 28. Behold. I am with you. All the days. Perpetually. Uniformly. And on every occasion. Let's end on that note.

[42:04] Ted. Would you pray for us? Father Lord. We come to you Lord. First. Thank you so much. For this day. Father. Thank you for this beautiful weather. You've been giving us. And Father. We just thank you.

[42:15] For being with us always. Even though we may not realize it. You are with us. Through everything we go. Even that day. When I fell Lord. I know I was in your hands.

[42:25] And I thank you. Father. I just pray you. Continue to. Guide the people we have. Like Nick. And Tyler. And Lee. And all the ones. Willard and all those.

[42:36] Who have. Truly studied your word. And they present this to us. To help us to understand better. We pray your guidance in their life. And we pray. You just touch our hearts. With your word.

[42:46] Lord. We are going to go through. Some troubled time. Right now. We are. And we truly need. Your presence with us. Father. As we face. These uncertain times.

[42:57] Father. And Father. We just. Right now. Before I. Close. I lift up all those. We have. Lift. Lifted up. And all the others. Who. Who have. Medical situations.

[43:09] And you pray. Your healing. Upon their body. Father. And cover their family. And Father. We just pray. That you. Watch us. For the rest of the week. And guide. Or bring us back. Your Sunday.

[43:19] Prepare to hear. More of your word. And draw closer to you. We thank you so much. For all that you do. We thank you. For forgiveness of our sins. In Jesus name. I pray. Amen.

[43:30] Amen.