LEAVES OF GOLD, MARCH 2006

Master Outline of the Bible #3

The Doctrine of God 

"He who comes to God must believe that He is:' The only way that man can approach God is by faith. "He who comes to God must believe that He is [no one has ever honestly sought after God by faith and failed to find Him], and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". Enoch sought God by faith, found God by faith, walked with God by faith, escaped death by faith, and was rewarded by faith. "For before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him"-and without faith it is impossible to know Him (Heb. 11 :5, 6).

None of the patriarchs, prophets, or writers of the Scriptures attempted to prove or argue the exis­tence of God. It is a fact taken by faith by those who wrote and spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, who is the one and only author of the Holy Bible (2 Pet. 1 :21; 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17). 

Although the Holy Spirit did not move the writers of Scripture to argue the existence of God, He did present some clear facts that will strengthen faith: 

(1) Creation. This fact demands a living personal Creator. Every effect must be traceable to an ade­quate cause. For example, if there is a building, there must be a builder. If there is an automobile, boat, or airplane, there must be a mechanical engineer. If there is a watch, there must be a watch­maker. There are thousands of "effects" in the world, such as electric typewriters, cameras of all kinds, power tools, television, radio, computers, word processors, and so on. And not one of them evolved; all had an intelligent, adequate cause. We have a creation; therefore, we must have an ade­quate, personal Creator. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handi­work. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge" (Ps. 19:1,2). 

(2) The written Word, the Bible. "All Scripture [all sixty-six books of the Bible] is given by inspira­tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous­ness" (2 Tim. 3:16). God the Holy Spirit is the Author of the Scriptures; therefore they are inerrant (2 Pet. 1 :21). 

(3) The living Word, Jesus Christ the Son of Cod and Cod the Son. "In the beginning was the Word Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1 :1. The Word did not have a beginning because He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8, 9). 

2.

3-A. God Is a Personal Being (Jeremiah 10:lO-16)-"The LORD (Yahweh) is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King" (v. 10). He is not dead. He is the eternal, living God, King of kings and lord of lords (Rev. 19:16; cf. Dan. 2:47). He created the heavens and the earth and every living thing in His universe (Gen. 1:1; cf. Is. 45:18). "And: 'You, LORD, in the beginning [the same beginning as in Gen. 1:1) laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail''' (Heb. 1:10-12; cf. Ps. 102:24-28). This messianic psalm, as quoted in Hebrews, attributes the act of creating all things to Christ, and is evidence that God is a living person (Col. 1:15-19). In the light of the Scriptures, who can deny that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is a living person seated at the right hand of God the Father (Heb. 1:3)? 

Scripture reveals the fact that God is a Person, possessing self-consciousness and self-determination. He is the true and living God. The personality of God was seen when "He revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. He said, "I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Ex. 3:6, page 60). To these words Jesus added, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:32, page 970). To be the God of the living, He must be a living person, infinitely greater than His subjects. "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His name?" what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM: And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." , Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations"'" (Ex. 3:13-15). God said, "I AM WHO I AM"-the only uncaused, self-existing God (Ex. 20:1-6). 

Personality consists of intellect, emotion, and will. The personality of God is seen in certain characteristics ascribed to Him in the Scriptures. 

(1) God grieves. "He was grieved in His heart" (Gen. 6:6) . 

(2) God becomes angry. "The LORD became angry with Solomon" (1 Kin. 11 :9). 

(3) God is jealous. "For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" (Ex. 20:5). 

(4) God laughs. "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh" (Ps. 2:4). 

(5) God hates. "These six things the LORD [Jehovah] hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him" (Prov. 6:16-19). 

(6) God cares. "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Pet. 5:7)

(7) God hears. "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?" (Ps. 94:9). 

(8) God sees. "He who formed the eye, shall He not see?" (Ps. 94:9; Ps. 11 :4). 

B. God is a Trinity, Luke 3:21, 11. By the Trinity, we mean that God is Three Persons in One Being. The Trinity is His tri-personal existence in One Godhead, as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, Matthew 3:16, 17. They are three distinct Persons in On God. "Hear, O Israel, The LORD (Yahweh) our God, the LORD is one", Deuteronomy 6:4. The Father is Yahweh, the Son is Yahweh, and the Holy Spirit is Yahweh, and the three are a tri-unity, as the following passages demonstrate:

(1) Peter speaks of the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Pet. 1 :2). God the Father is the fullness of the Godhead, unseeable. "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1 :18). 

(2) The Father says to God the Son, "Your throne, 0 God, is forever and ever; a scepte(2) The Father says to God the Son, "Your throne, O God is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom" (Heb. 1:8,). God the Son is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. "And the Word [Christ] became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). 

(3) "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? ... You have not lied to men but to God'" (Acts 5:3, 4). God the Holy Spirit is the fullness of the Godhead, convicting man of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11). 

The Trinity is also seen:

(1) In the Creation:

(a) "In the beginning God [God the Father] created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). (b) "And the Spirit of God [God the Holy Spirit] was hovering over the face of the waters" (Gen. 1 :2). 

(c) "You, LORD [God the Son], in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands" (Heb. 1 :10). God the Son, Jesus Christ, "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him [Jesus Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist" (Col. 1:15-17). 

In the above verses we see the Trinity creating and sustaining the heavens and the earth. 

(2) In the baptism of the believer: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). We are to baptize in the name (not names) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because the three are one God. 

(3) In the baptism of Jesus: 

(a) Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. 

(b) The Holy Spirit descended like a dove and alighted upon Him. 

(c) God the Father spoke from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:13-17). 

The Lord our God is one God in three persons. Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a trinitarian blessing: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14). 



Ages and Dispensations, III

(From the Book: "Rightly Dividing The Word" by Clarence Larkins)

3. The Present Earth.

The six days´work as described in Genesis 1:3-31 is not a description of how God made the "Original Earth", but how He restored it from its "formless and void" condition to its present state. He began by reversing the process He took to make it uninhabitable. He said "Let there be Light," Gen. 1 :2-5. The light was not sunlight, that did not appear until the "Fourth Day." It was doubtless "Electric Light," the incandescence of which dispelled the gloom and generated enough heat to melt the icy covering of the earth and form water. Thus the earth passed out of the "Night" of its history into the morning of its "Resurrection Day." 

The "Second Day's" work was the Readjustment of the "Atmosphere" to the needs of the present earth. Gen. 1: 6-8. It is worthy of note that God does not say of this Day's work that it was GOOD, as He did of the work of the other days. This may not be without signifi­cance, for we read in Eph. 2: 2 of the "Powers of the AIR" over whom Satan is the Prince, and it may have been that as soon as the atmosphere of the earth again became habitable the "Powers of Evil" swarmed into it. Eph. 6: 12. 

The work of the "Third Day" was twofold, the emer­gence of the land from the sea, and the reappearance of vegetable life. Gen. 1: 9-13. This was not a new crea­tion, but a RESURRECTION. The earth rises up from its ('Watery Grave," and seeds, and the roots of plants and herbs and trees that were in the earth sprang into life as they do in the spring of the year after the winter is over. This reveals the fact that the Pre-Adamite Earth was clothed with verdure, and covered with plants and trees like those of the Present Earth. 

The work of the "Fourth Day" was the re-appearance of the Sun, Moon. and Stars. Gen. 1: 14-19. They were not created on the "Fourth Day." They had shone on the Pre-Adamite Earth, but the cloudy atmosphere of the restored earth hid them from view until the "Fourth Day," when the clouds broke away and permitted them to shine on the earth, and from that time they were ap­pointed to mark the days, months, and years, of the Present Earth. 

The work of the "Fifth Day" was the CREATION of fish and fowl. Gen. 1: 20-23. Here is the first time we come across the word "CREATE" since we read of the original creation of the earth in verse one. This shows that all animal life was destroyed in the catastrophe that overtook the Pre-Adamite Earth. The fish and fowl that' were created on the "Fifth Day" were the same that we have today. The fossil remains of huge marine animals and gigantic birds belong to the Pre-Adamite Earth. 

The creative work of the "Sixth Day" was twofold, that of land animals and of man. Gen. I : 24-28. 

These land animals were doubtless the same kind as we have today. The fact that they were created, 

"AFTER THEIR KIND," 

which is 5 times repeated, shows that they were not, "evolved" from one common species. That all the differ­ent species of animals were created "separately" is proven from the fact that when species are crossed their off­spring are sterile. The crossing of the jackass and a mare is the mule, and a mule is a hybrid and is sterile. If the "Evolutionary Theory" of the development of animal and vegetable life was true, dthe"Evolutionary Theory development of animal and vegetable life was true, we should expect to find evidence to that effect in fossil remains of the interme­diate links, and we should also see "evolutionary pro­cesses" at work now whereby higher orders of animal and plant life are coming into being. But we see nothing of the kind. Animal and plant life exists today in the same form that it has existed in the knowledge of man. The birds build their nests and raise their young as they always did. The beaver builds his dam, and the bee constructs his honeycomb as they have always done.

Man alone has the faculty of improving his mode of con­struction. This is seen in the development of farming instruments from the crude plow and winnowing fan to the complex plow and cultivator, and the combined reaper, binder, and thresher. But here we can trace the various steps by the obsolete specimens of farming im­plements. This is not true in the animal and vegetable kingdoms for there we find no intermediary links. If the Evolutionary Theory is correct, it should apply to man as well as animals, and we should see by the cross­ing of the best specimens of the human race the evolution of a SUPERMAN, but the history of the race disproves this. 

That man was CREATED (Bara) A MAN shows that he has not descended from an "ape." Man was made in the "IMAGE OF GOD," not in the image of an ape, and was not formed from a brute but of the "Dust of the Earth." While Adam and Eve were not both fashioned in the same way, Eve being "builded" from a rib taken· out of Adam (Gen. 2: 21-23), they were not evolved from some lower creature, but were both direct creations of God, "male and female CREATED He them." Gen. 1: 27. 

On the "Seventh Day" of the "Restoration Week" God rested. Gen. 2: 2-3. He rested because His work was finished. That is the only justifiable reason for rest­ing. He rested because His work was not only finished but was GOOD. There could be no reflection on it. But when God's perfect work was marred by sin, by the "Fall of Man," His "Sabbath Rest" was broken, and He had to resume work for the purpose of the redemption of man that he might become a "NEW CREATION" in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 5: 17. (This study will continue. To see the many charts of Mr. Larkin which are so helpful to understand the Bible, go to: "Preacher´s Desktop" on the WWW and look for "Charts of Larkin") 



What Baptists Believe, III

II Timothy 2:15 

INTRODUCTION: Paul, an apostle inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote the above words to Timothy who was not inspired. In his instruction in II Timothy 2: 15, he charges Timothy to (1) Study-(2) To show himself an unashamed workman-(3) Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. 

In this lesson one will study: 

l. The importance of rightly dividing the Word of Truth, the Bible; 

2. How God has already made certain grand divisions Himself, and, 

3. The purpose of the right (proper) division of the Word of Truth. 

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH 

1. To avoid a common mistake of making every scripture reading apply to one personally, when it is not to be done. Note this mistake by the Jews: John 5:39, 40 and II Corinthians 3:13-15. 

(1) "Take heed WHAT ye hear" (Mark 4:24), and "HOW ye hear" (Luke 8: 18). 

(2) Genesis 22:1, 2 is to Abraham ONLY, not to you, telling you to sacrifice your son thusly. 

(3) Exodus 30:37, 38 is to the nation of Israel, not you personally, and there is a reason. 

(4) Job 1:6-12 records a conversation God had with the Devil, not with you. 

(5) I Corinthians 12: 27 is said of a church at Corinth, Greece, not to you personally. 

(6) John 16:13 and 14:26 have direct address to the apostles of Jesus. 

(7) Revelation 2:2-7 is Jesus speaking to a church institution, not to certain individuals as such. Certainly individuals make up each church, but the institution is collective. 

2. It is important to rightly divide the Word of Truth because of the written Word of God in His plan for mankind-I Timothy 6:3-5, Mark 8:38, and Matthew 24:35. 

3. It is important because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit and, interpreted in human understanding and perception, may cause great harm-II Peter 3:15, 16. 

II. CERTAIN GRAND DIVISIONS ALREADY MADE FOR US 

1. The Old Testament is divided into three divisions by ,JESUS Himself-Luke 24:44; (1) Law-(2) Prophets-(3) Psalms. 

a. The Law and Prophets served their purpose, and were done away with by the Lord Himself, Luke 16:16; Colossians 2:14; Matthew 5:17, 18, and Romans 10:4.

b. The Psalms are to be used in the New Testament order of the work of the assembly and in worship, Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19.

2. The Jewish people were given the Law and Prophets, as a nation, for their rule, guide, teacher and mouthpiece, under the Old Testament, to bring them to Christ. Read Galatians 3:24, 25, Acts 3:18, Acts 10:43, Acts 26:22, 23, and John 1:10-12. 

3. New Testament churches now have the New Testament and Psalm books as their rule of faith and practice since the Old was done away-John 12:48. 

a. History: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts. 

b. Doctrinal books: All the epistles from Acts to Revelation. 

c. Prophetic book: Revelation 

There is certainly prophecy in the gospels and Acts, as we11 as doctrine in Revelation, but the above gives the main theme of each division of the New Testament writings.

III. THE PURPOSE OF RIGHTLY DIVIDING WORK OF TRUTH

1. . 

'1'0 be an lImu;hamcd workman for God, that needs not turn red in the face-II Timothy 2: 1. To be an unashamed workman for God, that needs not turn red in the face, 2 Timothy 2:15. This verse means that a disciple, especially a teacher, should study, learn, and know enough about the Word of God that he would never be ashamed when confronted with a question about it, and not know the answer. A believer should, rather, show himself approved-not of men, but of God. This can only be done by rightly dividing the Word of Truth. 

2. The purpose of rightly dividing the Word of Truth is that one be clean of heresy and wrong concepts not in keeping with the will of God-John 15:3 and Psalm 119:3. 

3. Rightly dividing the Word of Truth will free one from doubts, fears of ignorance and, indeed, make one free, ' John 8: 31, 32. 

4. If one would be sound in the faith of Jesus Christ, in Hid doctrine, a right division of the Word of truth is a must, Titus 2:1-8.

5. In making the right division one must test what he sees, hears, thinks and believes, Acts 17:10-12.