1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,360 Frankly, I approach our subject tonight with a little bit of fear and trepidation, at least 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,280 a sense of inadequacy. 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:23,880 I sort of feel like a fellow who's gone to the mountain and is returning home and trying 4 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:30,040 to describe the mountain with a spade full of dirt that he brought back with him. 5 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:38,440 When we talk about the spiritual nature of God, we are talking about a subject that is 6 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:53,560 too immense for any human tongue to ever frame, let alone try to put that picture of God's 7 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:58,600 spirituality into one message. 8 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:04,360 But with God's help tonight, we want to at least be suggestive in our covering of this 9 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,600 subject of the spiritual nature of God. 10 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:16,360 In John chapter 4, we have the record of our Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples traveling 11 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,240 through Samaria. 12 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:26,680 They had been in the area of Judea, and it says that He left there and went back once 13 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,680 more to Galilee. 14 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:36,240 His ministry in Judea had not been well received, and He headed back to Galilee where He was 15 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,480 more accepted by the multitudes. 16 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:44,580 And it says in verse 4, now He had to go through Samaria. 17 00:01:44,580 --> 00:01:48,480 This was a must that He do this. 18 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,800 It was a must perhaps for two or three reasons. 19 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:59,920 On the one hand, He had an appointment to keep with a lady who needed spiritual help. 20 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:05,880 As a result of that appointment with that one person, there was a whole village that 21 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,880 turned to the Lord and believed in Him. 22 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:18,180 I think too that perhaps Jesus went through Samaria because He purposely wanted to show 23 00:02:18,180 --> 00:02:26,920 His disciples the foolishness of their prejudice against the Samaritans. 24 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:31,280 I suppose most of you know who the Samaritans were, but for those of you that may not, it 25 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:39,180 might be helpful to be reminded that the Samaritans were half-breeds. 26 00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:49,120 They were a race of people, the result of intermarriage between Jews and Assyrians. 27 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:57,600 When the northern kingdom of Israel was invaded and conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC, 28 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,840 the king of Assyria deported thousands and thousands of Jews that lived through that 29 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,740 siege. 30 00:03:05,740 --> 00:03:15,880 He replaced them in their homeland with citizens of Assyria and other parts of His empire. 31 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:23,200 He did this to defuse any possibility of a rebellion there against Him by the conquered 32 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,080 Jews. 33 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:35,180 The result of these people being imported was intermarried between them and the Jews 34 00:03:35,180 --> 00:03:39,120 in the northern kingdom of former Israel. 35 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,240 This intermarriage produced what were called Samaritans. 36 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:53,040 When the southern kingdom of Judah returned from its captivity in 539 BC, they found the 37 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,960 Samaritans to have very little in common with them. 38 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:05,880 By this time, the intermarriage of the Assyrians and the northern Jews had been going on for 39 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,760 a number of generations. 40 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:16,920 The religion that they worshiped, though somewhat similar to the Jewish faith, was mingled with 41 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:22,480 the worship of Baal and other false deities. 42 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:28,540 These returning Jews, when they got back to Jerusalem, had little to do with these half-breeds 43 00:04:28,540 --> 00:04:31,700 to the north. 44 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:38,360 The hostility between the two groups never ceased. 45 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:45,160 When they attempted to rebuild the Temple under the leadership of God's people, the 46 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,880 Samaritans tried to oppose the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. 47 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:55,680 And down through the centuries, up until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, the tension 48 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:03,680 between these two groups, the Jews and the Samaritans, continued to exist. 49 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:08,680 I think it was for that reason that Jesus had to go through Samaria. 50 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:16,720 I believe that he wanted to show the rather spiritually arrogant Jews of his day that 51 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,680 they had no reason for their pride. 52 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:27,840 It says he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had 53 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:30,800 given to his son Joseph. 54 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:36,760 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the 55 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:37,760 well. 56 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,840 It was about the sixth hour. 57 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:42,480 And then the appointment takes place. 58 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:48,680 It says when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, Will you give me 59 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,640 a drink? 60 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,400 His disciples had gone into town to buy food. 61 00:05:54,400 --> 00:06:01,400 The Samaritan woman said to him, You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. 62 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,200 How can you ask me for a drink? 63 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,320 For Jews do not associate with Samaritans, was the implication of her statement. 64 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,880 And John says so. 65 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:19,360 Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, 66 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:25,580 you would have given him, and he would have given you, living water. 67 00:06:25,580 --> 00:06:31,520 In this conversation, our Lord now probes her curiosity and suggests that there is such 68 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,820 a thing as living water. 69 00:06:33,820 --> 00:06:40,200 And so politely, though perhaps skeptically, she says, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, 70 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,080 and the well is deep. 71 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,680 Now today the well is about seventy-five feet deep. 72 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,840 We know not, of course, how deep it was then. 73 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:52,040 But you had to have some kind of pot or bucket to get the water. 74 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:57,080 And she says, Where can you get this living water? 75 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,260 Her curiosity was aroused, and yet she did not understand that Jesus was talking about 76 00:07:01,260 --> 00:07:04,640 something that was immaterial. 77 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,000 She says, Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from 78 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:14,800 it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds? 79 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:21,880 Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water, undoubtedly pointing to the well, will be 80 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,200 thirsty again. 81 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,320 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. 82 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:35,120 Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal 83 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:36,120 life. 84 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:42,760 Now, undoubtedly by this time, the woman is becoming a little more illuminated. 85 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,340 And she says, Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming 86 00:07:48,340 --> 00:07:52,000 here to draw water. 87 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:58,640 Now our Lord is offering to her spiritual water, eternal life. 88 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,560 She indicates, not understanding fully what he means, that she's interested in that water, 89 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,680 that she wants it to drink. 90 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,680 Our Lord knows that he cannot give that water to a person who is not really prepared for 91 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:12,560 it. 92 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:18,360 She needed to have a confession of her sins before she could be ready for the water of 93 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,560 life. 94 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:31,720 And so kindly but revealingly, Jesus told her, Go and call your husband and come back. 95 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,680 Her reply was, I have no husband. 96 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:41,160 And then Jesus said, You are right when you say you have no husband. 97 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:48,200 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. 98 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,880 What you have just said is quite true. 99 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,760 Well, you can imagine how this must have struck this lady. 100 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,880 She says, Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 101 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,760 That was rather obvious, wasn't it? 102 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:09,640 Instead of proceeding though with that, she tries to evade the point of conviction that 103 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,800 our Lord had placed upon her. 104 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:14,920 And so she brings up a spiritual argument. 105 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,040 Have you ever dealt with somebody that way? 106 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,520 That is, when you get close to the point where they feel convicted, you know, the heat's 107 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:28,640 on, the fire's burning inside, and all of a sudden they go this direction, or at least 108 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:33,320 try to, to sidetrack you or to evade the point. 109 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,080 So she brings up this argument. 110 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:41,320 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must 111 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,040 worship is in Jerusalem. 112 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:48,720 But she brought up the age-old argument between the two groups, and that was the place of 113 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,080 worship. 114 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,600 This mountain that she refers to was Mount Gerizim. 115 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,720 It's well located right at the foot of Mount Gerizim. 116 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,640 Some of you may remember Mount Gerizim from the Old Testament. 117 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,200 Moses commanded the people in Deuteronomy chapter 27 and 28 that when they got into 118 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:19,280 the land, they were to go to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, which was just across a very 119 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:27,480 short and narrow valley, and they were to divide their congregation into halves. 120 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:28,880 The Levites were to be in the middle. 121 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,000 An altar was to be set up. 122 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:40,000 And the Levites, the priests, were to recite the law before all of these people. 123 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,000 And then there was to be an antiphonal response. 124 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:53,040 The people on Mount Ebal were to respond reciting the curses of God upon sin and disobedience 125 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,360 to the law. 126 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:04,400 The people on Mount Gerizim on the north side were to respond reciting the blessings of 127 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:08,680 the law upon those who would obey it. 128 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:10,720 That occurred. 129 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:16,040 And Mount Gerizim, because it was the place where the blessings of the law was pronounced, 130 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:21,560 became very important, particularly to the people who lived in that part of Israel. 131 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:27,000 And it was that part of Israel that later became the northern kingdom, etc., etc. 132 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,640 Mount Gerizim was always important. 133 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:35,120 And it still is today to the few Samaritans, the true Samaritans, that are still living. 134 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:40,640 There are some Samaritans, but because they intermarry, their number is reduced greatly. 135 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,760 And I think that there are probably fewer than 200 of them that are left alive on the 136 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,600 face of the earth today. 137 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,860 But that Mount Gerizim was significant to them. 138 00:11:52,860 --> 00:11:55,640 To them it was the place where the blessing of the law was pronounced. 139 00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:01,360 And of course they had little to do with Jerusalem, for that's where the Jews worshipped. 140 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,960 And there was this constant bickering between the two groups. 141 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,520 Where do we worship? 142 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,420 Jesus does not get involved in the argument. 143 00:12:10,420 --> 00:12:14,600 And in that He gives us a good pattern to follow. 144 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,840 When people want to argue about religion, back off. 145 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,040 As someone has said, you may win the argument, but lose the soul. 146 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:24,200 So back off from an argument. 147 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,600 It doesn't gain anything. 148 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,800 But in verse 21, Jesus doesn't simply be quiet. 149 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:35,680 He says to her, believe me woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither 150 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,720 on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 151 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:45,680 Now that was a significant statement for a Jewish rabbi to make. 152 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:50,680 He says, you Samaritans worship what you do not know. 153 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:56,020 Which was a rebuke to her and to their rather eclectic religion that drew from the Jews 154 00:12:56,020 --> 00:13:00,040 and from the worship of Baal and the other pagan religions. 155 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,980 He says, we worship what we do know. 156 00:13:03,980 --> 00:13:06,040 For salvation is from the Jews. 157 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,720 And of course that is true, the Messiah was to come through the Jews. 158 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:16,880 He says, yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship 159 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,740 the Father in spirit and truth. 160 00:13:20,740 --> 00:13:25,880 For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 161 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:34,800 And then He says, God is spirit and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 162 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,440 The woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming. 163 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:44,000 When He comes, He will explain everything to us. 164 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,080 Then Jesus declared, I who speak to you am He. 165 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,620 Isn't that a fabulous statement? 166 00:13:51,620 --> 00:13:55,560 I think one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever heard, and yet it was disappointing 167 00:13:55,560 --> 00:14:02,360 in a sense, was to be on a tour bus parked just outside the city of Sychar, which is 168 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:09,160 now called, near Shechem, which is now called Nablus in Israel, and to hear our Jewish guide 169 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:15,800 explain John chapter 4 as well as any evangelical preacher I've ever heard. 170 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:21,100 Went all the way down through this, to where Jesus said, I who speak to you am He, went 171 00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:25,160 all the way through the story. 172 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:31,960 And I was thrilled to hear Him explain it in such a profound way and a clear way. 173 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:40,120 That night I said to Him, why is it after explaining the fourth chapter of John so well 174 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:45,720 as you did today, that you cannot see Jesus as your Messiah? 175 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:51,480 And He shrugged His shoulders and said, ah, He said, you were raised a Christian, I'm 176 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,120 raised a Jew. 177 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,200 And with that He walked away. 178 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:02,480 To Him it's a matter of a cultural thing, you see, more than a religious thing. 179 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,000 I the speak to you am He. 180 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:06,840 And what did Jesus say? 181 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:14,160 He said, God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 182 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:22,240 Now what does it mean when it says that God is Spirit? 183 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:23,680 It means two things. 184 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,480 It means first of all that God is immaterial. 185 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,000 What does that mean? 186 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,440 Well it means that He does not consist of matter. 187 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,880 That is unlike you and me. 188 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:38,160 We live in bodies. 189 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:43,800 We are tied to bodies, and we are material and mortal. 190 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:45,480 But God is immaterial. 191 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,160 He does not consist of matter. 192 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:56,760 All matter that exists was brought into existence by Him, but He Himself is immaterial. 193 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,680 He is Spirit. 194 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:06,600 Now our Lord Jesus Christ is not in spirit form now. 195 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:12,600 He was before the incarnation when He took upon Himself flesh. 196 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:23,480 In Luke chapter 24, verse 39, Jesus appears to His disciples after His resurrection, and 197 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:29,480 He says to them, Peace be with you. 198 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,000 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 199 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,380 The word is spirit, the same Greek word. 200 00:16:35,380 --> 00:16:37,760 He said to them, Why are you troubled? 201 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,900 And why do doubts rise in your minds? 202 00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:42,760 Look at my hands and my feet. 203 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,040 It is I, myself. 204 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,660 Touch me and see. 205 00:16:47,660 --> 00:16:55,800 A ghost or a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have. 206 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:04,000 And so God the Son is today in a body, how be it glorified. 207 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,280 He is in a body. 208 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:15,040 But God the Father, God the Holy Spirit are still in their essential form, Spirit. 209 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,720 They are not in matter. 210 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,000 They are immaterial. 211 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Now it is true that in the Bible God speaks about having ears and eyes and hands and His 212 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,000 arm. 213 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,760 There are numerous passages that speak of these, like the hand of the Lord is not shortened 214 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:35,840 that it cannot save. 215 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,280 The ear of the Lord is open to the righteous. 216 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,600 His eye is upon them, says the Bible. 217 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,760 But these expressions are what are called, are you ready for this? 218 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:51,000 I hope I can even say it, anthropomorphic. 219 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,000 What does that mean? 220 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:58,280 Well, it means that though God is Spirit, He describes Himself in human terms so that 221 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,520 we can understand better what He is like. 222 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:08,680 It does not literally mean that God has an earlobe and an ear canal and those other bones 223 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,280 in here that are part of our hearing system. 224 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:18,760 It doesn't mean that God has five fingers or that He has an arm literally. 225 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:25,000 But God uses that kind of terminology so that we can understand that He does see and He 226 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:32,760 does hear and He does take powerful action. 227 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,440 There are cults that teach that God has a body. 228 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,360 In fact, the Mormons teach that. 229 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,360 We talked a little bit about one of their doctrines this morning. 230 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:50,760 They also teach, and I quote them, the Father has, capital F, God the Father, the Father 231 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:56,680 has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's. 232 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:57,680 That is their teaching. 233 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:03,840 But that is in contradiction to the Word of God, which says that God is Spirit, the very 234 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,160 words of the Lord Jesus Himself. 235 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:12,960 Now that not only means that God is immaterial, but it also means that He is invisible. 236 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:19,560 That is, He cannot be seen by human eyes except that He somehow reveals Himself. 237 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,320 Now we're here at Luke 24. 238 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:26,360 If your Bible is like mine, if you turn over a page or two, you come to John. 239 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:31,680 And in John chapter 1 verse 18, we have these words. 240 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:40,940 It says, No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son who is at the Father's side 241 00:19:40,940 --> 00:19:42,440 has made Him known. 242 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,360 Now I'm particularly interested in the first part of that sentence. 243 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:50,600 No one has ever seen God. 244 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:56,340 In the Old Testament, God said, No one may see me and live. 245 00:19:56,340 --> 00:20:02,480 And yet isn't it curious that as God describes His relationship to Moses, He says that He 246 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:12,120 spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. 247 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:17,720 Does that mean then that Moses saw God? 248 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,760 I think that the phrase face to face is not best understood that way. 249 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:27,680 It is a phrase that means intimacy. 250 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,840 That's the significance of it. 251 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:35,280 In other words, God spoke in intimate words to His servant Moses like you would speak 252 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:39,700 to your very best friend. 253 00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:43,360 No man has seen God at any time. 254 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:44,880 Doesn't mean that God hasn't appeared. 255 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:45,880 God has. 256 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:55,360 But what it does mean is that no one has ever looked upon the essential nature of God. 257 00:20:55,360 --> 00:21:01,320 We have only been able to see God as He has desired to make Himself seen. 258 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:08,500 Richard de Haan in his book The Living God gives this helpful statement. 259 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:15,160 So infinitely glorious is God that in order for Him to communicate with men, He must condescend 260 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:24,520 to shield, to clothe, to encase Himself as it were in some visible form, and thus protect 261 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:32,240 His creatures from destruction, even as the bright light of a welding torch is covered 262 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:36,720 to prevent it from blinding the eyes of the onlooker. 263 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:44,840 So God contained His brightness that He might stoop to meet the needs of those whom He loves. 264 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:51,680 And so when God appears to us, He in some way encases Himself or covers Himself to shield 265 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:58,400 us from seeing His essential nature, for we cannot look upon Him and live. 266 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:03,000 Our Lord has appeared in three forms. 267 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:10,200 He has appeared as a human in the Old Testament in what are called theophanies. 268 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:15,040 An appearance of God is the meaning of that word. 269 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:20,080 In Genesis chapter 3 it says that God walked in the garden. 270 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:28,160 And I personally believe that that means that Adam and Eve knew God not as an invisible 271 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:37,560 immaterial being, but as a theophany that God appeared to them, and they related to 272 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:38,560 Him in that way. 273 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:43,560 And I think that's why it says that God walked in the garden. 274 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:50,360 Certainly God appeared as a theophany, as a man to Abraham. 275 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:58,240 For example, in chapter 18 of Genesis, three people come to visit Abraham. 276 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:03,040 They are on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the cities. 277 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,360 And the Word of God clearly says that two of them were what? 278 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:11,420 Angels, and one of them was whom? 279 00:23:11,420 --> 00:23:14,280 The Lord Himself. 280 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,560 The two angels went on down to Sodom and Gomorrah to oversee the destruction and the judgment 281 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,840 of that city and those cities of the plain. 282 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:30,760 But the Lord Himself stayed behind in body form, appearing as a man speaking to Abraham. 283 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:39,720 And then He appeared as a man when those three Jewish brothers were placed into that fiery 284 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,640 furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and who? 285 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:45,640 Abednego. 286 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,520 All the boys and girls know that one too. 287 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:56,000 Now when the king looked in that fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than normal, 288 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,200 he saw the forms of four men, not three. 289 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:05,120 And he says that one of them was like the Son of God. 290 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,680 The Lord appeared there in body form. 291 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,160 Then the Lord appears in other ways. 292 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,440 The best way I know to say it is that He appeared in material form. 293 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:20,200 For example, Moses met Him on the top of Mount Sinai the first time, and the Lord appeared 294 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:21,200 how? 295 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,600 In a burning bush. 296 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:30,720 Not as a man, but there was a fire, and that's how the Lord appeared to Moses. 297 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,080 It was a fire that burned, but it didn't consume the bush. 298 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,580 It was the Lord appearing to Him. 299 00:24:37,580 --> 00:24:42,120 And then later the Lord appeared before His people and indicated His presence. 300 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:49,480 During the day by a pillar of cloud and a night by a pillar of fire. 301 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:54,600 And so the Lord appeared there not as a man, but in material form. 302 00:24:54,600 --> 00:25:02,120 But then the most wonderful way in which God has ever appeared to human beings is in the 303 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:07,400 person of Jesus Christ. 304 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:13,120 I think John chapter 1 is one of the most fabulous chapters in all the Bible. 305 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,960 There is so much here. 306 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,560 He begins by saying, in the beginning was the Word. 307 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,200 And who is the Word? 308 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,100 Jesus Christ. 309 00:25:24,100 --> 00:25:26,480 He is God's logos. 310 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,200 All that God wants to communicate to us is in His Son. 311 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,540 In the beginning was the Word. 312 00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:37,920 And the Word was with God and the Word was God. 313 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,520 Three important statements. 314 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,240 The first indicating that He existed before creation. 315 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:50,160 When that which was characterized by the beginning occurred, the Word was. 316 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,000 He already was in existence. 317 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,000 What happened in the beginning? 318 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,680 Well in the beginning God created. 319 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:57,580 So He goes back before creation. 320 00:25:57,580 --> 00:26:01,640 He is not a created being as some cults teach. 321 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,700 The Word was with God indicating that there is distinction of personality. 322 00:26:06,700 --> 00:26:10,080 And yet it clearly says and the Word was God. 323 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,360 Or as John literally states, and God was the Word. 324 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,600 He was God. 325 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,760 And then in verse 14, he makes this amazing statement. 326 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:29,440 The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. 327 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,320 Here the Word is, He tabernacled amongst us. 328 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:39,560 And when you speak about the tabernacle, you immediately think of the Old Testament and 329 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:48,280 that was the tent of the meeting where God would come down and meet with His people Israel. 330 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,000 Can you imagine what that was like? 331 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,520 As you read the description of that tabernacle or that tent, the inside of it was of exquisite 332 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:06,600 beauty, wrought with skilled hands of craftsmen that God directed and God enabled, but the 333 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,080 outside of it was very plain looking. 334 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:16,360 As you looked at the tent, it was just an ordinary plain looking thing. 335 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:24,120 And that in itself pictures the Lord Jesus Christ who in the inner sense was beautiful 336 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:35,120 in His perfection, in His deity, but to His outward appearance looked just like a man. 337 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:38,360 And the Word tabernacled amongst us. 338 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:46,940 When someone looked at Jesus Christ, they could say, there is God. 339 00:27:46,940 --> 00:27:49,400 God has appeared to us in the person of His Son. 340 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,880 And what is the significance of all of this? 341 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:58,640 I would suggest just four of them very, very quickly and with these we close. 342 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:10,200 One implication of the spiritual nature of God is that idolatry is forbidden. 343 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:19,200 God absolutely without question forbids any material representation of Himself. 344 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:30,080 He said, you will not make unto me any likeness, any graven image as some quotations have it, 345 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,320 or some versions have it rather. 346 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,440 God absolutely will not have idolatry. 347 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,040 Anything material cannot represent that which is spiritual. 348 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,360 There is no proportion between the two. 349 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,320 There's no relationship. 350 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,440 And that's why idolatry is called sin. 351 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:58,480 It is impossible for the most skilled craftsman with the most imaginative mind to take a piece 352 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:04,480 of stone and to fashion the image of God in it. 353 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:11,280 It is a disgrace to the nature of God to attempt it. 354 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:16,560 It cannot be done, and then God forbids it. 355 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:22,600 And so we forsake idols. 356 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,160 What about pictures of Jesus Christ? 357 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:35,080 It was a privilege of mine to be an acquaintance of Mr. Solman who painted the head of Christ 358 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,440 that is so well known. 359 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,160 And he did a number of them, by the way, not just the one that is well known. 360 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,720 Are those wrong? 361 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:52,240 I hesitate to say categorically yes, but I would say at least that they are suspect. 362 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,600 Now what's wrong with them? 363 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:03,360 Because when we look at that picture or at that image that is made, it limits our concept 364 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,960 of God, and we suddenly begin to think of God like we are and bring Him down to our 365 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,880 level. 366 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:16,120 And ultimately it leads to thinking that God is subject to the same weaknesses and foibles 367 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,360 that all of us are subject to. 368 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,040 And that is why God forbids idolatry. 369 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,400 Implication or significance number two. 370 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:31,600 Man has a spirit. 371 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,920 There are those that see man only as an animal. 372 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:41,680 He is only a beast who evolved like the other animals of the earth. 373 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,880 But the Bible presents an entirely different point of view. 374 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:53,640 It says that man is a specially created thing and that one of the most important aspects 375 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:59,000 of him is the spiritual part of him, the invisible part of him. 376 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:05,480 It is that aspect of man that is in God's image, not the body, because God does not 377 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,880 have a body. 378 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:21,040 But it is His ability to reason, to decide, to think, to understand revelation of God 379 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:29,960 that makes him unique and in the image of God completely different than all of the animals. 380 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,680 Man has a spirit. 381 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,120 And the third implication sort of comes out of that. 382 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:43,520 It is that God can only be known through the spirit of man. 383 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:50,080 Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and I will give you my proof text for this. 384 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:57,760 1 Corinthians 2, 14 says, The man without the spirit does not accept the things that 385 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:04,000 come from the Spirit of God for their foolishness to him. 386 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:13,400 And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 387 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,960 How do we comprehend God? 388 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:26,820 It is only in the spirit of a man that God can be comprehended. 389 00:32:26,820 --> 00:32:32,080 It comes through our minds, but it must go deeper than the intellect. 390 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,360 It affects our emotions, but it must go beyond that. 391 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:41,960 It must go into the very spirit, that inner core, the holy of holies, so to speak, of 392 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:46,040 a man, that God is comprehended. 393 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:54,080 The things of God are spiritually discerned, and that is why an unsaved person cannot understand 394 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:55,080 the Bible. 395 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:58,440 He cannot get a hold of God. 396 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:07,080 The whole thing is a mystery to him because the spiritual part of him is dead. 397 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:12,640 And that deadness affects his mind so it is blinded and darkened to the things of God. 398 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:18,560 Only when a person is saved and that spiritual part of him is quickened, and he is made alive 399 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:23,840 in Jesus Christ, can he then begin to understand God. 400 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:31,160 Of course, none of us can ever fully comprehend God, but we are called upon in the Bible to 401 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,440 begin to know Him. 402 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,840 And then there is a fourth implication, and that is that when we worship God, we must 403 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,440 worship Him in spirit and in truth. 404 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,200 That is what Jesus said in John 4. 405 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:48,200 The Father seeks such to worship Him. 406 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:54,480 It doesn't mean that we can become that ourselves, but what it means is that among His people, 407 00:33:54,480 --> 00:34:01,100 God continually seeks to develop in us true worship. 408 00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:06,800 And worship has little to do really with ritual and ceremony. 409 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,840 They are not in themselves worship. 410 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,680 He says worship is in spirit. 411 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:17,020 That is, it is more inward than outward. 412 00:34:17,020 --> 00:34:24,880 It must be done in truth as directed to the truth of God, by the truth of God and to the 413 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:25,880 truth of God. 414 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,520 It must be done sincerely without any pretense. 415 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:36,200 It is true that ancient Israel had forms and worships of worship and rituals that they 416 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:42,520 went through, but those were only a shadow of the reality that we have in Jesus Christ. 417 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:49,320 As one writer has said, Stephen Charnock, there is no need of a candle when the sun 418 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,040 spreads his beans in the air. 419 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:58,340 And by the way, I would encourage you, if you like to read kind of heavy things every 420 00:34:58,340 --> 00:35:04,800 now and then, and something that will stimulate you, there is a two-volume set by Stephen 421 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,640 Charnock called The Existence and Attributes of God. 422 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:12,320 It has been reprinted recently. 423 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,680 He's a man who writes in the style of the seventeenth century, and I'll guarantee 424 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,040 you won't sit down and speed-read it. 425 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,800 But if you take time to wade through it and to think with him, you will be deepened in 426 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:30,920 your understanding of God. 427 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,800 There's something else about sin that's important to say. 428 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:43,320 You know, we are very aware of the sins that are external, the sins of the body, the sins 429 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:44,560 that we can see. 430 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:53,060 But could I suggest to you tonight that because God is spirit and we are spirit, and the spirit 431 00:35:53,060 --> 00:36:00,520 part of us is most akin to the image of God, that it is the sins of the spirit that most 432 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:08,520 grieve God and are the most heinous in the sight of God? 433 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,720 Now we look at it the other way, don't we? 434 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:23,140 But I would suggest to you that it is the attitudes that we have and harbor, the thoughts 435 00:36:23,140 --> 00:36:24,700 of our minds. 436 00:36:24,700 --> 00:36:33,960 It is those inward things that are most offensive to a holy God because God is spirit. 437 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,800 Thus it behooves us to listen closely to the words of the apostle when he says, let us 438 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:47,400 therefore cleanse ourselves of all the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness 439 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:52,520 in the fear of God, 2 Corinthians 7.1. 440 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:57,480 I think Paul must have been thinking about the spiritual nature of God when he writes 441 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:58,480 1 Timothy. 442 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,960 Just turn there and we close with these verses. 443 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:09,240 Already Bob has suggested that the hymn we sang before the message was from 1 Timothy 444 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:13,880 1, 17. 445 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:24,800 As he begins his writing to Timothy he shouts this doxology, now to the King eternal, immortal, 446 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:32,480 invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen. 447 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:38,880 And then as he concludes his letter to Timothy, he gives him a charge that he should flee 448 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:47,040 from sin and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness, that 449 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,240 he should fight the good fight of faith. 450 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:58,320 And he says, I give this charge to you, Timothy, in the sight of God who gives life to everything 451 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:05,000 and of Christ Jesus who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. 452 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:10,720 I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord 453 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:18,040 Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time. 454 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:25,520 God the blessed and holy ruler and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone 455 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:36,000 is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see, to 456 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:42,920 whom, to him rather, be honor and might forever, amen. 457 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:53,120 With that doxology I'd like for us to bow in prayer. 458 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:58,920 The spiritual nature of God is more than just an academic subject. 459 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:04,640 And I hope that you've received more tonight than just facts about what God is like and 460 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:10,920 that you sense the awesomeness of God's person and that will draw you to worship Him in spirit 461 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,680 and in truth. 462 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:19,880 But as we consider what God is like and the fact that he knows all and is everywhere present, 463 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:28,600 it also is a time of examination of our hearts and if tonight there is sin in our lives. 464 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:35,760 And I want to focus now upon the kind of sin that is most grievous, the sin of attitude. 465 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:43,620 If there are attitudinal sins in our lives, impure thoughts, rebellious thoughts, selfish 466 00:39:43,620 --> 00:39:55,120 ideas, self-pity, all of these things are sin and need to be confessed. 467 00:39:55,120 --> 00:40:00,320 May God help us to do that, that we then may worship Him. 468 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:09,280 Father, we are struck with the awesomeness of our subject tonight. 469 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:18,680 And having just begun to understand your spiritual nature, I pray that there will be at least 470 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:27,160 some of us who will go on in our thinking this week, in our Bible study, in our meditation, 471 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:33,720 to probe further what this means and how it applies to us and what the implications are. 472 00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:40,160 For all of us, I too would pray that you will teach us to worship you as we ought, in spirit 473 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:46,080 and in truth. 474 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:52,960 Grant this, I pray, in Jesus' name. 475 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:58,840 Amen. 476 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,400 Grateful for your presence tonight. 477 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:06,200 And again, I want to encourage as many of you as possible can to stay with us, even 478 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,560 if only for a few moments. 479 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:13,680 Come downstairs to get to know one another and also Bob and Cindy. 480 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:16,880 Bob, why don't you slip on out now, if you will, please. 481 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,360 And Cindy, I don't see you, but wherever you are, thank you. 482 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:23,680 If you'll go with him, go on downstairs. 483 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:27,880 We'll be down there in just a second. 484 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:37,520 Would you stand with me, please? 485 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:44,320 And let's bow together in prayer as we bring this service to its conclusion. 486 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:58,000 God, it humbles us that the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, for we know what we're 487 00:41:58,000 --> 00:41:59,240 like. 488 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:03,400 We thank you that even while we were yet sinners, that Christ came into the world and died for 489 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:12,760 our sins, so that we could be forgiven, made alive in Him, have eternal life, and dwell 490 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:16,720 forever with you in your presence. 491 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:24,200 Now, God, may that hope that we have be an encouragement to us this week in our pilgrimage, 492 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:32,560 and make us sensitive to people around who are hurting and empty and who need the reality 493 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:34,560 of life in Christ. 494 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:41,880 And give us the burden, the impetus, the courage to speak to them, to share with them the good 495 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,440 news about our Lord. 496 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:51,440 Make us a blessing this week to all of those around. 497 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:56,280 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 498 00:42:56,280 --> 00:43:13,120 Good night and God bless you each one.