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Most of us are familiar with the word theology and often use it with respect to a particular

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doctrine.

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For example, we talk about the theology of the church or the theology of angels or the

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theology of man, and all of those uses are okay.

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The term theology, as is defined in the dictionary, means the study of God and his relationship

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to the universe.

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The word theology is rather generic in a certain respect because it needs additional words

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or can use additional words at least to modify it to make it understandable in a given context.

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For example, let's take the word serial.

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That's a generic word, but you can add all kinds of modifiers onto it to describe it,

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to make it more understandable in a given context.

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You may have sweetened cereal, you may have dry cereal, you may have natural cereal, you

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may have whole grain cereal.

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So it's one of those kinds of words.

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Theology is similar to that.

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The word theology can be modified by words like naturalistic theology, biblical theology,

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systematic theology, new theology, process theology, liberal theology, evangelical theology.

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It's one of those kinds of words.

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Every human being, every organization, every movement, every church for sure, has a theology.

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By that I mean it has some concept of God, some concept that it worships.

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The secret of course is what is meant by God in that organization, that church, that movement.

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94, 95% of Americans say they believe in God, but what does that mean?

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Does that mean the United States has been evangelized, that there are that many Christians?

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Of course not.

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The English word God comes from the Anglo-Saxon word good, and I suppose it means the ultimate

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good very simply.

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But what does that say?

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When a person says that he or she believes in God, what does that person really mean?

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We as a church have a statement regarding God that we have adopted.

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We say that we believe in God, and this is what we mean when we say that.

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It's not that we believe in every God so called, or that we believe in any God, but we believe

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in this God.

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We believe that there is one living and true God eternally existing in three persons, that

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these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious

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offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.

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Let's think about that statement tonight for just a few minutes.

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It's important for us to think about God, to study God.

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Not that we're reducing God to some kind of an academic subject, or a certain course

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in seminary, that's not the idea at all.

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But there is no pursuit that is higher for a human being than the pursuit of knowing

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God.

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Charles Spurgeon put it this way, nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so

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magnify the whole soul of a man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great

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subject of the deity.

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The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified,

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and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity.

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What do we mean in the statement that we have adopted as a church?

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There are three essential affirmations that are involved in that simple and yet profound

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statement that I've read to you regarding what our church believes about God.

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The first affirmation is this, that there is one living and true God, just one.

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That means that we as a church assert that all other gods, so called, all other objects

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of worship are false.

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Whether those be idols or demons or astrology or man himself, all other objects or idols

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of worship are false.

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These may also include the realm of the material, the temporal, like money, power, possession,

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pleasure.

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None of these is a God that is worth worshiping, for there is one true and living God.

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That excludes all possibilities of rivals.

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There is no God who can rival our God.

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There are several verses in scripture, of course, that speak to this.

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I want to turn just to a couple tonight.

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The first one in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4 and verse 35.

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To you it was shown that you might know the Lord, he is God, there is no other besides

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him.

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Deuteronomy 4, 35.

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Then in verse 39 it says, know therefore today and take it to your heart that the Lord, he

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is God, in heaven above and on earth below, there is no other.

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Some people believe that it's generous and broad minded and kind to be able to say, well,

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God is whatever you call him.

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Making it possible that there would be many gods that exist.

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The fact is that there is only one true and living God who has revealed himself to us

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in his word.

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The prophet Isaiah thundered this over and over again.

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I'd like you to turn just to a couple of verses toward the end of his book, Isaiah,

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chapter 45.

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Look in verse 5.

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God is speaking through his prophet.

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Look what God says.

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I am the Lord and there is no other.

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Besides me there is no God.

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That is a claim to being exclusive.

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He says there is no other God, period.

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Verse 6 he says, there is no one besides me.

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I am the Lord and there is no other.

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In verse 14 he says toward the end of the verse, surely God is with you and there is

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none else, no other God.

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Verse 18, for thus says the Lord who created the heavens, he is the God who formed the

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earth and made it.

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He established it and did not create it, a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited.

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So clearly he is defining exactly the one of whom he speaks.

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He says thus saith the Lord, the end of the verse, I am the Lord and there is none else.

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This is affirmed again in the New Testament in several places.

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The point is this that we as a body of people believe this, that there is only one true

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and living God, just one.

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All of the other religious systems in the world that claim to worship a God are false

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systems.

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They have either originated demonically or are manmade.

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What they do for us is to show us the innate cry, the inborn, inbred need of the human

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heart to worship.

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Man must worship something or someone.

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He is created that way.

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God of course puts us in contrast to the animals which have no capacity for worship.

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But we human beings are born with that need to worship God and the ability to worship

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God.

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There is one, only one true and living God.

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That is why God warns his people, Israel in Exodus chapter 20, which is applied to us today in very clear terms.

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God says you shall have no other gods before me.

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Why was he saying that?

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Why did he give that as one of the Ten Commandments?

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Because God is jealous for his glory in the first place.

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God wants his people to worship him and him only.

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You see there are many religious systems that are thrown at us constantly in our world.

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Satan is forever putting before us the concepts of false gods that we may worship.

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God says no other gods before me.

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There's a practical reason he's told us that too.

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It is this, that we become like the God we worship.

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God is jealous that we become like him.

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It is for our own good that God gives us that commandment.

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Look at what happened to Israel when she fell into idolatry.

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Inevitably, along with that idolatry came the grossest form of immorality.

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Now look at our society today, a society that has gone after false religious systems.

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Tell me if it doesn't reflect exactly the same kind of degeneration, immorality.

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Now there's a second affirmation that we make in our statement.

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It is this, that this one living and true God is one.

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That he is indivisible.

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There are those who tell us that because we worship God the Father, God the Son, and God

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the Holy Spirit, we believe in three gods.

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We deny that.

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We absolutely do not believe in three gods.

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We believe in one God.

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There's one true and living God is one.

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Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4.

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This is a familiar verse to those of you who know the Jewish faith.

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This is a key verse for them.

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They use this verse to attack Christianity, but it's a verse that we absolutely agree

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with.

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For it says in verse 4 of Deuteronomy 6, hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is

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one.

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We do not believe in three gods.

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We agree with this verse.

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The Lord is one.

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The Lord our God is one.

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There are two primary names for God that are given to us here in this verse.

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The first one is Lord, all in capitals, or Jehovah, or Yahweh.

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That is a singular name.

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It is a name for God in his self-existence and his self-sufficiency.

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God needs nothing to exist.

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He is entirely self-sufficient in who he is.

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Notice that it says the Lord is our God.

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There the name is Elohim.

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That is a plural name, Elohim.

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The I am on the end of it makes it plural.

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What is it saying?

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Well, there are those who say that this plurality is the plurality of majesty.

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When the Hebrews wanted to make something majestic, they would say it in the plural

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to emphasize the glory, the majesty of that which they were speaking about.

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So God is here telling us that he is majestic, but is there more?

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Indeed, I believe that there is.

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It is telling us of God's majesty, but there is a suggestion here in the Old Testament

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that within the singularity of God, within the unity of God, the oneness of God, there

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is also a plurality that is involved.

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This is the first name by which God identifies himself in the Bible.

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In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

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And it's interesting in that verse that though he used a plural name, Elohim, the verb is

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singular.

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Now that doesn't make good grammatic sense to us, but there was a reason for that.

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God was underscoring the fact that as Elohim, he is one who created the heavens and the

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earth.

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This is the same word for one here, Deuteronomy 6.4, as is found in Genesis 2.24 when it says

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about man and woman becoming one flesh.

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You see it is a oneness that is called a compound oneness, not a simple oneness, but a compound

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oneness.

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And it's interesting that whenever the Bible uses this word of the deity of God, I should

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say it this way, whenever the Bible speaks of God as one, it uses this word and not the

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word for simple oneness.

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It is always compound oneness, as in Genesis 2.24 speaking of the husband and wife.

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The New Testament likewise emphasizes this truth in James 2.19.

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It says you believe that there is one God.

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You do well.

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The demons also believe that.

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There is one God.

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This one living and true God is one.

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The same thing is repeated in 1 Corinthians 8 verses 5 and 6.

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One God, the Father.

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Now I emphasize this because liberal theologians suggest to us that our concept of monotheism,

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that there is one God, that this concept of monotheism is a product of evolution in religion.

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They say that mankind began, when he crawled out of the cave some time back, the mankind

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began his concept of God as polytheism, many gods.

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And that over the process of time an amazing thing happened.

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Some people began to believe in monotheism, one God.

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But evolution, they say, took place in man's thinking.

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He went from believing in many gods to some believing in one God.

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Now is that the way it happened?

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Is this concept of monotheism in fact the product of evolutionary thought?

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The answer to that is a resounding no.

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For the Bible teaches us that in the beginning man had the knowledge of the one true and

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living God who is one.

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And that in fact, degeneration took place because of sin and man developed the concept

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of many gods.

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Turn with me to Romans chapter 1 where we see this explained to us.

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Romans chapter 1.

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Look at verse 20.

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He says, for since the creation of the world, his gods, invisible attributes, his eternal

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power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been

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made so that they, the pagans, are without excuse.

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For even though they knew God, notice that.

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Now whenever you believe these, whenever is the time period you believe these words apply

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to, it is true that at one point man believed in one God.

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They knew God, says the Bible.

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They did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations

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and their foolish heart was darkened, the judgment of God.

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Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God

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for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling

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creatures.

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What is being said here?

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It is this, that mankind began with the knowledge of the one true and living God who is one.

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But because he refused to acknowledge God and to glorify God and to be grateful to God,

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he was turned to foolishness.

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His heart was darkened, his speculations became futile, and mankind created the concept of

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polytheism, many gods.

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So the evolutionists have it just in reverse.

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The liberal theologians have it just the opposite of what the Bible says.

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The Bible declares that all began with the knowledge of the true God and polytheism developed

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because of the sinfulness of the human heart in rejecting the knowledge of God.

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Now let's go back again to Deuteronomy chapter 6 because I want you to go on to the next

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verse.

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We've looked at Deuteronomy 6 for, here is the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

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What we're saying here is what we've affirmed in our doctrinal statement that the one true

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and living God is one.

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Now says in verse 5, and in other words because of this that you believe, because of what

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has been revealed to you about God's nature, you shall love the Lord your God with all

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your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

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In other words, because God is one, we are to worship him with an undivided oneness in

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our own beings.

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He tells us here in verse 5 that there is to be an undivided devotion of the entire

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life to God.

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And the call for that from us is based upon God's essential unity.

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There's the application.

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Now is the third affirmation that we make in our doctrinal statement that's important

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to grasp.

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This one living and true God who is one, one in essence, eternally exists in three persons.

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Equal in every perfection, but distinct in their offices, in the work of creation, providence,

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and redemption.

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In other words, we affirm that we are not Unitarians.

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We believe in the oneness of God, but we believe that God exists eternally in three persons.

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God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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In other words, we believe in the Trinity, or a better term, is the tri-unity of God.

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Now this is intimated in the Old Testament.

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I've already shared with you the plurality in the name Elohim that God chose to use to

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reveal himself.

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This morning as we looked in Genesis chapter 1, we were reminded of what God said, let

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us make man in our image.

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God used plural pronouns when speaking of himself as God acting.

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Let us make singular verb, man in our image.

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So there are intimations in the Old Testament of plurality.

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It doesn't say two or ten or three.

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But in the Old Testament there is room left for the oneness of God involving more than

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simple oneness.

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This of course is confirmed in the New Testament.

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As the New Testament is progressive revelation, so it gives us additional understanding of

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the nature of God.

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The God who is one eternally exists in three persons.

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We see this in several places.

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For example, in Matthew chapter 3 and in the other gospels recording Jesus' baptism.

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We have the Son of God in human flesh standing there in the Jordan River with John the Baptist

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being baptized.

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And as he is baptized there is a voice that speaks from heaven.

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And that voice says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

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For who would call him my Son but the Father?

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And as that voice speaks there is as it were a dove that descended from heaven and lit

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upon him, which the New Testament says to be the Holy Spirit.

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And so God exposes himself there to us in his three persons.

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The same is found in Matthew 28 and verse 19 where it says that as we baptize people

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as we did this morning, that the formula that we are to use, the statement that we are to

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use as we baptize them is I baptize you in the name, notice that singular, not the names,

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but the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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That is the way Jesus said we were to baptize.

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In 2 Corinthians 13-14 we have a benediction of the Apostle.

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Take a look at that.

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The Apostle blesses the Corinthians as he closes this epistle.

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And he mentions each person of the Godhead as he does so.

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Look in the last verse of 2 Corinthians.

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He says the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the

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Holy Spirit be with you all.

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May I remind you of Jesus' statement in John chapters 14, 15, and 16.

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He speaks to his disciples and to us and he says, I must go to the Father and when I go

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to the Father we will send to you the Comforter.

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Who is that?

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The Holy Spirit.

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We sing the hymn, the Comforter has come.

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Oh spread the tidings around.

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The Comforter has come.

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The Comforter is the Holy Spirit.

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Jesus speaks of himself going to the Father's presence and of he and the Father sending

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to us the Holy Spirit.

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And it's interesting that each person of the Godhead in the New Testament is declared

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to be God.

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God the Father, Romans 1, 7, and multitudes of other places.

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The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole book of Hebrews argues for that, but especially

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the first chapter.

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He is called God.

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There is no doubt about his deity.

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The Holy Spirit?

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Yes, in Acts chapter 5.

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You've not lied to men but to God.

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In just the previous verse he said you've lied to the Holy Spirit.

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Conclusion, they've lied to the Holy Spirit, they've lied to God, the Holy Spirit is God.

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Each person of the Godhead is equally worthy of our praise and devotion.

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That does not mean that we worship three gods.

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As Jehovah's Witnesses, as Unitarians, and as many others accuse us.

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But we do believe in the living God who is one who exists in three persons.

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You say I don't understand that.

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Congratulations.

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You've come to a basic truth about theology.

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There are many things we can't understand.

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No human being could ever create the doctrine that I just talked to you about, the doctrine

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of the Trinity.

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It's beyond human conception to create that intellectually.

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God had to reveal that to us.

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If we could understand it, it would be suspect.

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I make no pretense tonight, nor would any sensible person make a pretense of explaining

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God to you.

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God cannot be explained.

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All we can do is go to His Word and explain what His Word says about God.

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For God has revealed Himself to us in this Word.

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Someone has said try to understand the Trinity and you'll lose your mind.

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Deny it and you'll lose your soul.

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You say is it really that critical?

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Absolutely.

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It is that critical.

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One cannot deny God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and be saved.

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There's a very sincere group of people in our town who have even a large church and

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a Bible school out on the east side of St. Paul, an apostolic church, who deny the Trinity.

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It makes no difference what they say, otherwise to deny the Trinity, to deny God's triune-ness,

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is to deny one of the essential doctrines of the Word of God and puts one outside the

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realm of biblical Christianity.

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It is an essential doctrine.

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That is why we affirm it in our statement.

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I suppose that there are many statements that we could put into our doctrinal statement,

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and frankly in some respects I would like to see it strengthened.

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But those that are stated for us are absolutely essential in this particular article.

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Spurgeon said, the proper study of the Christian is the Godhead.

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The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can engage

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the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the

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existence of the great God.

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How much do you think about that?

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When you go to the Bible and you read it, how much do you think about what God is saying

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about himself?

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So often we use the Bible as a roadmap for the day, and certainly God's Word provides

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direction for our lives.

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But remember that God gave us this word primarily to expose himself to us, that we might know

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him.

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So as you read the Bible, one of the first questions to ask yourself is, what is that

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verse, what is that text teaching me about the nature of God?

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There is no study that is more lofty.

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There is no course of pursuit that is more important than that of pursuing the knowledge

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of the living God, who is one, but eternally exists in three persons.

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We sing about this in our hymns.

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Did you notice it this morning in Holy, Holy, Holy?

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Open your hymn book.

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I'd like for us to sing in closing a hymn that expresses the worship of the Trinity.

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It's number 46.

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The title is Praise Ye the Triune God.

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And notice how the author of the words divides the verses as we sing this hymn of praise

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to the Lord.

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Let's stand together and sing number 46 in our hymnals.