Would you turn with me to the Gospel of John? We're reading a short passage of scripture here in preparation for the text that we're considering this morning and one of the attributes of God that we're looking at here, that in particular, that God is a spirit. John chapter 4, beginning in verse 21, Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The grass withers, the flowers fade and fall, but the words of our Lord God endure forever. Heavenly Father, Almighty God, we come here this morning to worship you, to hear your voice, to know your word and your will for our lives. Father, as we consider your characteristics, your attributes, those things that in worldly terms define who you are, May the magnitude of who you are as God our Father overwhelm us, that we might leave here this day with a deeper understanding, even in a finite way, of the glory that you are as our God and Father. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Father, we pray. It was in the middle of the 20th century, if you stop and think about it, it wasn't that so long ago, that a little book was written entitled, Your God is Too Small. This was a book written by a man by the name of J.B. Phillips, who is probably more famous for his paraphrase of the scripture, which in fact was one of the first Bibles that I received from a Presbyterian church back when I was a teenager, that I took with me to college and read through it. Now the bindings have fallen apart, but that book touched a nerve. at that point in American history is as people began to realize that there was more to the nature of God and the character of God than they were used to thinking. It was a surprise actually to the publishing company that that book took off with such wide acclaim and that it was written on the subject the character of God the Father. The same sort of thing happened a few years ago when J. I. Packer published his book, Knowing God, which has been published and republished and published again. It reached the top of the charts in Christian book-selling world and was really no surprise that a book by Dr. Packer would be a bestseller. because of his great literary skill. But the surprise was the subject matter once again. The reason I think that people were drawn to that book was it in a very precise way talked about the attributes of God. Things like God's infinity, His eternality, His immutability, his immensity, his omniscience, his omnipresence. These words that we use to define the character of God and the attributes of God. Words that tend to be very abstract. That we often have a tendency to be intimidated by. I don't know if you know it or not, but I went to reform school. RTS in Jackson, Mississippi Reformed Theological Seminary and it did in a way have a reformation impact upon my life and my understanding of the scriptures and one of my favorite classes was presented by Dr. Douglas Kelly systematic theology professor and we had a class that was entitled the doctrine of God and as students we had to look in a much greater depth at that topic than we're able to do here in a series of sermons over 12 or 14 or 56 weeks. And invariably, when we went through those classes, as we considered those lectures, I remember often coming out of those classes feeling like I had been on the mountaintop with God. It was such a spiritual experience going to class and listening to these lectures about this deep and overwhelming topic. Our minds were stretched considering these infinite things. So I began to think, why should just seminary students or Pastors or ministers have that unspeakable privilege of taking time to examine the attributes of God. So, here we are. Christ came that we might know Him, who is our God. And too often, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, we get stuck on the cross. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing. That's certainly a good thing. But we have a tendency to stop there and fail to see the power of our triune God, the might and the majesty and the characteristics and the attributes of that God who is at the center of that cross. When we start probing questions like the infinity of God, we were talking about last week, buddy, and the immutability of God, there will probably be times over the next few weeks that you'll think your head's going to explode. Just trying to wrap your mind around these things that in a sense are unwrappable. These are extraordinarily difficult concepts for us to grasp, I have to admit. And all we're able to do in this series is simply skim lightly over the surface. But there is, I believe, great benefit for us as Christians, in the course of these studies, as we deepen our understanding of the things of God, so that we cannot be liable to the charge of J.B. Phillips and think that our God is too small. We can spend the rest of our lives thinking as deeply as possible, as we possibly can, about the attributes of God and not come anywhere close to exhausting the depths and the riches and the heights of who He is. And though we know at the outset that the best we can do is stumble through these difficult things, I believe the stumbling is worth it. if we can just take away from any one of these sermons one new insight that stretches our understanding of who God is. It's unfortunate, but I've read in contemporary books about homiletics, about preaching, that the preacher should never preach above an eighth grade level, theologically. topically in the church. Even if the church is composed of people who, for the most part, are college educated. The idea is that if we go beyond that eighth grade level, theologically, we'll lose or alienate the congregation. They'll get bored. They'll tune out, turn off, and take a nap. And I thought, Well, maybe that particular writer was right. But it's not right if he's right. It may be right that he's right. I'm twisting your mind just a little bit here to get you prepared for this topic. But it's not right that he's right in the sense that we should never be satisfied with an elementary understanding of God. In this world of dumbing things down, we of all people ought to desire to be stretched to our limits when it comes to this particular topic as we consider the nature and the attributes of God. All that to say, by way of encouragement to you, be patient with yourselves and with me. Don't be frightened. Don't be put off by these things. Don't tune out, tune off and take a nap. There are certain elements of these topics that we may not grasp the first time around. But don't panic about it. Stick with it and see if we can discover. If you can discover something, in the context of these times that will expand your understanding of who God is, because our God is not small. His desire is that we should know Him. For it is with Him, you see, that we will spend eternity. Over the past few weeks, we've considered the names of God, or in one particular instance, the name of God. The Lord, Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who is, we considered His holiness. Remember, His separateness and His moral purity, a communicable attribute of God that He communicates to us, that He shares with us, as His people who are called to be separate from the world, but in the world, and also to be reflections of his moral purity. So today, I want to turn our attention to one of the most important things that I think we can say about God. This is an attribute that I believe, next to holiness, is at the heart of many, if not all, of the other attributes, because God is Spirit. He is omnipresent, omnipresent. He is omniscient. He is infinite and eternal. He is self-existent and self-sufficient. He is Spirit. We read in chapter 2 of our Westminster Confession of Faith, and I'm reading here from a contemporary edition, so we sort of get past all of the King James sort of language of the Westminster Confession, and it says this. It says, only one living and true God exists, infinite in His being and perfection. The Bible describes God as completely pure spirit, invisible without body, parts, or erratic emotions, unchangeable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, completely wise, totally holy, utterly free, thoroughly absolute, working everything according to the considered purpose of His own unchangeable and righteous choice, resulting in His own glory. He is most loving, graciously giving to the undeserving, full of mercy, patient, and abounds in goodness and truth. He forgives our wickedness, our purposeful choice of evil, and our falling short of His call to holy life. He rewards those diligently seeking Him. His judgments are just and awesome. Hating all sin, He never declares the guilty innocent." What a statement of the one who is our God. God Completely pure spirit. Invisible without body, parts, or erratic emotions. Here in this text that we read in John chapter 4, Jesus is having a conversation with this woman at the well. And everybody is familiar with this story, this account of Jesus' talk with this woman. And he talks to her about the water of life. And the woman, engages him, isn't it interesting, in a theological discussion. Whether she knows it or not, that's what she's done. And Jesus answers her, and it says, But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people the Father seeks to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Now, this communication between Jesus and this woman at the well is overflowing with theological significance. We could spend the next few weeks just studying this particular passage and all its facets, and it touches on issues that go beyond the scope of what we're concerned about here in this study today of the character of God. It teaches us much about the nature of worship. It teaches us about what is taking place with Jesus as He fulfills all the rituals and the rites of the Old Testament where people came to a central place, a central sanctuary, to focus their attention on worship with the work of Christ. See, the tabernacle and the temple were done away with. And He ushers His people into the full presence of God in heaven So that now when we gather for worship, we are able to worship in that heavenly place because of this attribute of God. God is Spirit. But that's a sermon in itself. The point I want us to see this morning is the one thing that Jesus is communicating to this woman is that ultimately, God's presence can never be restricted to one place because God is Spirit. Literally, the sentence here in the Greek reads, Spirit, and there's no verb, the God. So we insert that verb, is, in order to make that connection. There's no article, definite or indefinite, describing that Spirit. And in Greek grammar, a noun without an article puts emphasis on the quality rather than on the identity of God. It's really the same situation that we find in Romans 16, verse 1, where Paul is describing Phoebe as a deaconess, a servant. And he had no other word to use for her as a servant. So it reads deaconess. But there is no article there before that word. describing her. So this describes the quality of Phoebe. She is a servant at heart and is not intended to point to her identity as an official set-apart leader of the church. The word spirit is placed first here in this text. Because Jesus is not saying God is one spirit among many spirits. He is underlining the truth that God is of the nature of Spirit. In other words, absolutely Spirit in His essence is God. The Jews understood, or at least they should have understood, that God was Spirit, even though God promised to come down and visit them from time to time, like on the top of Mount Sinai when He met with Moses, or where He promised to be with them in the wilderness and the pillar of cloud as it moved ahead of those people of God. Or as God was with His people in a special way in that most holy place, in the Holy of Holies, in the tabernacle in the temple. God is Spirit. and can't be contained by those places. God showing Himself in those places was not ever intended to mean that God's presence was localized there. It was extensively or exhaustively limited locally in any of those places. God is Spirit. So what do we mean when we say that God is Spirit? We don't mean to suggest that He's a ghost, although I have to admit, versions of the Scripture, translations of the Scripture, and even some of the creeds that we recite in the old language, in the old English, refer to the Holy Ghost. Okay? Now that's different than what we're talking about here. We're talking about God as Spirit. Not the third person of the Trinity. God as Spirit. He's not a ghost. He's not an angelic being. When we say that God is spirit, we mean that He is not physical. He is not material. He is not a material being like we are. He is immaterial. And that's not to say He is insignificant. immaterial, in that he has no material body. It simply means he's completely pure spirit, invisible, without body parts. And he exists above and beyond time and space and is not contained by anything, nor can be contained by anything. You wrapped your mind around that? In contrast, we are creatures who have bodies. We are limited to time and space. Try to help us with this. Let me ask you a question. Where do you live? Buddy, where do you live? Diane, where do you live? I live in Beulah, right? For now. But if you're living in Beulah, what are you doing here in Pueblo West? You say that you live in Beulah, but you're not in Beulah today. So does that mean you're not alive anymore? Okay? Now, are you following me or are you totally confused? See, the correct answer to that question, where do you live, is this. I live wherever I am. Alright? Because we live inside our bodies and our bodies live and breathe and have their being as it moves from place to place. So, in a sense, you live here, right now, today, right? You are alive, right now, today. Wherever we live, we are. And wherever we are, we live. What we mean in the common language when we ask that question is, what is your residence? Okay, to be precise. Our residence is in a certain state, a certain place, a certain address. But actually we live wherever we are because we are physical creatures and physical creatures always can be found in a certain place at a specific time. But God is spirit and cannot be localized in that sort of way. in one particular place or one particular time. He is immaterial, completely pure spirit, invisible without body parts. This means that no property of matter can be ascribed to Him. He has no extension in space, no weight, no mass, no bulk, no parts, no form. He is immaterial because He is. He is invisible. We cannot see Him. And yet He is. And being one in essence and without body parts, he is indivisible. Where he is, all of him is, without division or separation. So what are we to think, then, of those passages of Scripture? Because I know you're thinking of this. Well, I'm pretty sure you are. Where the Bible refers to God's hands. Or sight. or God's mouth, or His heart. In light of what we just said about Him being immaterial and invisible and indivisible, in light of that, we have to understand the revelation of God that He gives to us in that way in which He describes Himself as having those body parts as being figures of speech. Anthropomorphisms is the big word for that. in which God speaks of himself in terms of human description so we, in our humanity, might better understand who he is. This doesn't mean, though, that we should try to form images of God. Actually, that's the prohibition of the second commandment, isn't it? Do not make any graven images. Who could ever sculpt a hand? that touches everything, or paint an eye that sees all things constantly, even our hearts. None of the properties of matter pertain to God. He is immaterial and non-corporal. God is pure Spirit, completely beyond our ability to comprehend. Yet at the same time, He's intimately involved in our lives. with each one of us. Well, if this is true, what we've just said about God being spirit, that He is immaterial, invisible, and infinite, then how do we know God exists? How do we know He is real? How are we to know Him? Well, the psalmist writes, the heavens declare God's righteousness. Paul, the Apostle Paul, writes in Romans chapter 1, For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, his divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that then they are without excuse. So how do we know him? Creation tells us about him, doesn't it? That there is a God. That He is powerful and mighty. We know Him because He exists in all creation. He is One who has come to show us who He is. And He's done that through Jesus Christ. Remember the words of Jesus in the New Testament. He who has seen Me has seen the Father. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ. Wonder of wonders! God has made Himself visible fully and richly in the incarnate Son, our Savior. So in a sense, the invisible has become visible for us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The infinite has taken on our finiteness. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, tabernacled among us, and we saw, beheld His glory. Glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth. The immaterial has become material. Jesus, who was perfectly human and totally divine, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant. Jesus, the God-man, possessed the essential elements of humanity, human nature, a material body, and a rational soul without confusion of his divinity and his humanity. He presents God to us and presents us to God in and through one person. Jesus Christ. In our Bible studies, we've been reading Pink, The Attributes of God, and studying that. In that book, on page 12, Pink says this, Such a God cannot be found out by searching. He can be known only as He is revealed to the heart by the Holy Spirit through the Word. The God of Scripture can only be known by those to whom He makes Himself known. God is not known by the intellect, for God is Spirit, and therefore can only be known spiritually. How do we know God? How do we know that He exists? Well, here's the thread. How did God create man? Genesis 1.26, we read, let us make man in our image. And in Genesis 2.7, and then God did something. He breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. Man is alive with breath and life because of the Spirit of God. The breath of God. And it's because of Him that we live and breathe and have our being. But Adam sinned. We all know that. And all mankind sinned in Him and fell with Him in His first sin. All mankind, by our fall, lost communion with God. and are under his wrath and curse and made liable to all the miseries of life to death itself and to the pain of hell forever. Fallen sinful man is dead to all that is spiritual unless he is born again. out of water and the Spirit, supernaturally brought from death to life, miraculously translated out of darkness into light. He cannot even begin to see and know the things of God unless God breathes that life back into him, touches that cord that was broken at the fall. How does that happen? The Spirit of God, who is Spirit, shines into our hearts in order to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But even that spiritual knowledge is fragmentary. And the regenerated soul has to grow in grace and their knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. See, all men are created in the image of God. Fallen, Yes, for sure. Seeking their own glory and their own desires? Yes, certainly. But God has placed in the heart of every man that breath that was broken at the fall. So that when he touches that heart and breathes new life back into that dead soul, they are brought back to life. God is Spirit, immaterial, invisible, indivisible, incomprehensible to our physical minds, and yet He is intimately personal and knowable, as His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are children of God. Is God too small? I think we have to say God is so good. Our God is so great that we can't even begin to imagine His immensity, His greatness, His power, and His might. Heavenly Father, oh that we would be able to fully know You, to comprehend All there is to know about you. And yet, Lord, if we could understand it completely, we would be God. Not created beings. Not the creatures. We would be God's ourself. Father, we thank you that you are our God. That you are our Father. That we are your creation. And that you have given us, O Lord, intimate moments of knowing who you are. Even in the limitations of our minds and our knowing, you give us glimpses of the glory that is our triune God. Father, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.