Right, well, we sort of titled paragraph one as the one true God, and now I'm into paragraph two on page seven of the notes, and we might call this paragraph God's external relations. Some theologians, they would say God has communicable attributes and incommunicable attributes, and this is gonna focus more on the communicable ones. How does God relate even to us and his external relations. So I'm going to read the highlighted paragraph in the notes or if you have your own copy or if you have an app you can just follow along with that. We did order I think 22 or 23 and they're in Calgary waiting for us to either pick them up or be shipped. So here paragraph two of chapter two. God has all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness in and of himself. He alone is all sufficient in himself. He does not need any creature he has made, nor does he derive any glory from them. That's important to think about. Often we say we want to give God all the glory, and there's truth to that, of course, but does God need us to give him glory? Do we somehow add to him? Is he lacking? Of course not. When we say we bless God or praise God, does he need anything? And before I continue, here's an application. If you could memorize one scripture from this week, I would say memorize Romans 11.36. And if you're really nerdy, memorize Romans 11.33. And it's kind of Paul's conclusion, sort of the very zenith of his musings of God's eternal nature and eternal purposes in Romans 9-11. Romans 9-11 is not just about election, though it teaches it very clearly. But Paul is just showing us a glimpse of God in all of his glory, and he has a plan that he's working out, and all things are working to that end. And so, I agree 100% when the Confession says that he does not need anything from us or from creation. He alone is all-sufficient in himself, for from him and through him into whom are all things. And we saw last week, he is the source or the fountainhead, the spring of all blessing. And he is the blessed God. The Puritans always said he's the happy God. And he doesn't need us to make him happy. We need him to give us blessing and to give us happiness. Back to the confession. Instead, he demonstrates his own glory in them, by them, to them, and upon them. He alone is the source of all being, and everything is from him, through him, and to him. You can hear the scriptural reference there. He has absolute sovereign rule over all creatures, to act through them, for them, or upon them, as he pleases. I'll refrain. In his sight everything is open and visible. His knowledge is infinite and infallible. It does not depend upon any creature, so for him nothing is contingent or uncertain. He is absolutely holy in all his plans, in all his works, and in all his commands. Angels and human beings owe to him all the worship, service, or obedience that creatures owe to the Creator, and whatever else he is pleased to require of them. This is a high and lofty view and vision of who God is, and it's good. It keeps us where we ought to be low, and it reminds us that He alone is high and He is lifted up. And I was talking a little bit with Joe yesterday. And I was sort of opining about, you know, this fellow who goes out and he evangelizes. And a lot of people were commending him in his efforts and how he was answering the question. A lesbian asked him, if God is so good, why do 99% of people go to hell? Of course, that number is quite arbitrary and I don't know where you get that number from, but you could hear her. She grew up in the Southern Baptist and was asking, And this man and his answer offended me immensely, actually. And he went on a big exposition of man's free will. And he mentioned nothing of God's holiness or of God's glory or of our deserved condition to be cast into hell. And he basically elevated man and diminished God because, he said, that if we don't have free will, it's not true love. And the confession was screaming in my ears, and I'm saying to myself, I wish this guy would read his Bible. And he meant well, but he basically made man up there right next to God, and that God is almost unhappy if man rejects him, or that God needs man to choose him. And I'm not trying to be that angry guy. But let's magnify Christ and let's declare his perfections and trust that the Holy Spirit would work in this lesbian's heart. And then rather than sort of bring God down and to make God kind of like, you know, this desperate God who just needs us to receive him with an open and free will. The scriptures don't teach that. This is what I believe the scriptures teach. And this is offensive. to the fallen man. This is foolishness, says 1 Corinthians 1. The cross is a stumbling block, but let it be a stumbling block. But to those who are the called, says Paul, Christ is the wisdom of God and he is the power of God, so that as it is written, if anyone is to boast, he is to boast in the Lord. Not to boast in our free will. Anyways, sorry, that's a bit of a rant. That's not in the notes. I just struggle, we're so atheological. We're just so man-centered. And I think our motives are good, but let's, I was just thinking, if this guy was more confessional, if this guy understood not only what the Bible said, but what we as Christians have believed throughout the centuries and millennia, we wouldn't have these man-centered responses. Now with love and winsome, we do wanna say God does love the world, but it was such a pathetic, unpacking of who God was. He was like, he was desperate. And then you just read this, he does not need us. God does not need any of us to be saved. If all of us were unsaved this morning, God would still in and of himself, the triunity, he would be happy and blessed. He would not be discontented. He would not be lessened in any way, nor if everyone in all the world was saved. that would not add to any of his glory, because intrinsic to himself, he is the glorious one. I hope you're getting a little bit of this. I'm not trying to like kick us in the shins, but we have such a low view of God, I think. And this is just a slap of cold water to our face, but oh, how refreshing it is. So, Waldron, I'm still following him. He breaks the second paragraph into the following headings, that God, is sufficient in his independence from us. He does not need anyone or anything. He does not need the angels to praise him. We just actually get to enjoy that. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And that's our greatest good. And I remember asking this when I was in seminary teaching at VBS. And I'm like, is that selfish of God? to say that our ultimate happiness is derived from knowing and worshiping him, enjoying him, right? And one young girl actually answered correctly, and she said, no, actually, that's God's greatest goodness, is to require of us and to enable us to actually enjoy him forever. Because if he is the blessed one, for us to join in that blessedness is actually the greatest gift he could ever give, is to demand of us worship. Now, if he's not perfect, and a tyrant like some people seem to be, then that's actually the harshest thing. But if you see God in who he truly is, that's the best thing he could actually say is, worship me. Find your meaning in me. Derive your being from me. Find your ultimate happiness in glorifying me. I will say this, no Christian is miserable who is filled with the Spirit and worshiping God in all he is and for all he has done. No Christian has ever been like, oh, I'd rather be fill in the blank. Heaven will be quite miserable then if we don't understand this, because that is what it's going to comprise of, seeing Him and glorifying Him and experiencing true joy. And that joy is broken in to this world in Christ and the Spirit, and we are just tasting of it. So I just want to encourage you. If you're seeking joy, you will find it only in true worship of the true and the living God, who paradoxically enough does not need your worship, but gladly shares, as it were, or His glory flows from Him to you and then back to Him. And it's a beautiful circuit. Okay. This section contrasts God's self-sufficiency or independence as over against the utter dependency of his creatures. What does natural man say? I don't need God. What do the scriptures say? God does not need us. We invert everything. We pervert everything. Who's he talking with? Somebody. Maybe it was Joe. That's what the Puritans would say. It's a Latin phrase, that man is curved in upon himself. That's our greatest problem, right? And so the scriptures say that we need God and God doesn't need us. What does man say? We don't need God, but he needs us. That's the satanic deception going all the way back to Genesis 3. What did Satan tempt man with? You shall be like God. Unfortunately, a lot of theologies actually disguise this, but God doesn't need us. And I hope you're not like, oh, I hope you're just feeling like Isaiah when he caught a glimpse of God and his glory and his resplendent, sovereign majesty. Woe is me. And Isaiah was in a very good place at that time. Then he was ready to say, send me, here I am. Okay? And so, when we see people seeing a glimpse of God in his glory, they're on their face, and that's a good place to be. Okay? It begins with a presentation, or this sentence in the second paragraph, begins with a presentation of God's aseity. We saw that last week. And it reminds us that God is perfectly satisfied and content to be God. He has no need of external creatures to add to any of his possessions or to augment his splendor and glory. His self-existence thus takes nothing from his creatures and has no necessity from them." Okay, does that make sense? Right, if God needs anything, at that moment he's no longer God, but what he needs actually is now above him. Does that make sense? That's what the confession is saying. If God is made up of parts, or if God needs anything, at that very moment, what he needs is actually more glorious than him. Because he's dependent on that. We have to see that. If God needs us at that moment, then we're actually above God, because then he needs something to satisfy or to fulfill him, right? And so that's what they're saying. God needs nothing. And the moment he needs anything, he's no longer God, but what he needs, as it were, then becomes superior to him, or as it is, a God to him. And that cannot be. Okay, so he takes nothing from his creatures, and he has no necessity from them. Rather, it gives to him glory, and he shares that glory, it says, with them. They reflect, whoops, mistake, what is already essentially God's. Okay? He is the sun, and we're merely a moon at best. A moon reflects. When you see the moon, you're like, Christina loves, every time we're driving home, and it's dark, oh, look at the moon. It's a full moon, it's a half moon. She loves looking at moons. But the moon does not have its own light. It looks like it. but the moon was designed merely to reflect the light of the sun. And I don't think if you were to zoom in with a telescope, the moon would have a sad face. The moon is doing what it was created to do, and it's reflect the light of another, and that's us. We're meant to reflect God's glory, and we're happiest and most satisfied and fulfilled when we're merely yet gloriously reflecting the sun. They reflect what is essentially God's. That's an important word, essentially, intrinsically God's. He is the source of their existence and ensures its continuing reality. I know this is heavy stuff, and that's okay. TikTok theology, we're going to see where it gets us in one or two decades. It's such a vapid, insipid theology that we're already surrounded with, and if we continue wanting just mere, you know, 40-character tweets of explaining God, then we'll just be shallow. And this takes time and prayer and sacrifice and thought and meditation. But God is worthy of it. Okay? Second heading that Waldron gives us in paragraph two is God's sovereign dominion over them. And as a Calvinistic church, this should not be new to you. Hopefully this is a refreshing review. Because the true and the living God is sufficient in and of himself and independent of anything other than himself, he alone has all dominion. This is something you can see in the scriptures. God is sovereign. or he is Lord by nature, but he has all exclusive rights because he is creator. And you can go to say somewhere like Acts 17, I remember writing a seminary paper on this in second year, and Paul could go into these pagans and he could declare God's lordship over these pagans, even though they'd never heard of him. And it's a participle, God being Lord. Right? He is Lord. The Lord reigns. Right? We see that in the Psalms, Psalm 93 through 99. There's this exclusive exclamation, God is Lord. Therefore, he is sovereign. And omnipotence, I've said, is a little bit different from his sovereignty. Omnipotence means he has all might. Sovereignty means he has all right. God has the right as king, as potentate, to demand from his creation exclusive worship. He has the right to make demands of us. Right, just as we would say the leaders over us. Children, you're not going to like this, but your parents have a right to demand things from you. Police officers have a right to demand things because they have authority over you. Well, God has all authority. God makes demands even of governments and of fathers and of pastors. because he alone, says 1 Timothy 6, is the only potentate. He's the only ruler. He's the only sovereign. And you see that in the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest king on earth at the time, and when he comes to his senses, he makes an astonishing exclamation that the God of Israel alone is the only king. Okay? And that all them, even under him in his empire, are to give exclusive worship to him. And so, I'm not going to defend this to you. I'm just declaring. The scriptures make it very clear. Chapter 1 of the Confession says our authority, right, is the scripture. And God has revealed himself in the scripture. And there's plenty of scriptures that the Confession provides and that I've provided in addition to that. Okay? The Lord reigns. Right? It's in the notes. And I have even a fancy footnote. That's in the perfect tense. It's not, he will reign. There wasn't a time when he began to reign. The Lord is I am, and he is king, and there will never be a time when he is not king. Always has been, is now, forever will be. Okay? Psalm 115.3. These are good verses to memorize, and not just to sort of, you know, I want to refute the Armenian. No, no, no, no, no, no. Remember this when you're making a decision. Remember this when you wake up in the morning. Remember this when you're discouraged. Remember this when you're anxious. Right? On YouTube, there's just all kinds of things. Oh, what about digital ID? And it seems like Carney is encroaching more and more and more. Right? Everything seems to be going up in cost. What in the world is going on in Europe, right, with all of this mandatory ID and what about a central digital banking and all this? You're going to go nuts until you remember our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. Just remember that. He's sovereign. He doesn't ask to be sovereign. He is sovereign. Okay, and then I have that lengthy quote from Daniel 4, 34 and 35, you can read that after, but I love this. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. I don't know if the United States will ever become a Christian nation, right? The post mills are hoping that. I'm not opposed to that, I'm not post mill, but I would love it to become more Christian. But if it doesn't, that doesn't mean God isn't reigning. He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And here's the humbling thing. I remember this when I was coming to the doctrines of grace, and it just humbled me. And I've held this verse in my pocket. Hopefully, actually, I should hold it near to my chest and my breast. I love this. And none can stay his hand or say. So none can stay or none can say. It helps you to memorize it. None can stay his hand. None can say to him. What have you done? What are you doing? What is the right posture? I submit and I surrender. I worship you, okay? Heading number three, God's absolute knowledge of them. And we saw in paragraph one that only God knows himself. Only God knows himself. Flowing from that, only God knows us. That's wonderful to know. I think I know myself, but you know what? God knows me even better than I know myself. And parents, he knows your children even better than you know them. It's wonderful. Only God knows himself fully, and only God knows us fully. Psalm 139, it's wonderful. Not only does he knit us, but he knows us, and he intimately cares for us. I hope this is actually quite encouraging. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all together. Isaiah says, before the word even leaves our tongue, God knows that. He knows our heart. He knows some of you this morning are hurting. He knows that. Isn't that wonderful? Sometimes people are like, Pastor, didn't you not see that I was this and this and that? And I'm like, I should have. I'm sorry I didn't. And it's not an excuse out of it. But God knows. Now, I want to know. I want to be a good pastor. We want to be good shepherds, Pastor Nathan. We want to be able to minister. But even when your pastor is at times aloof, even unintentionally, and children know this. He knows what you're going through. He knows the cares of your heart. He knows that you're worried about housing prices. He knows that you're maybe concerned about being single. He knows those things. I know children worry about those things. My daughter said to me, houses are so expensive, cars are so expensive. Some of us as parents are wondering like, where are all the young guys growing in godliness, right? I got five daughters. I don't want them to be married to clowns. And I'm not saying that, I'm just saying I'm being honest. But God knows that, he knows my heart. He knows your heart. He knows that you're going through struggles. He knows that you're struggling maybe in your marriage. He maybe knows, he does know maybe that you're struggling financially, or you have other concerns, or there's trials in your life. He knows that, and he knows you, and he knows you fully. So take it to the Lord in prayer. Cast all your cares on him. He knows them anyways, right, for he cares for you. 1 John 3.20, God, dot, dot, dot, I'm not proof texting, I promise I'm not doing a Rick Warren, but God knows everything. He knows our heart, but God does know everything, okay? And then I have some other texts you can read. Ephesians 1.11 is the last one I'll read. I like how the NIV translated it, in Christ, we were also chosen, here's a participle, having been predestined according to the plan, to the purpose of Him, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. I hope that's wonderfully calming to you. I hope in a world that is rocking and reeling, that can be an anchor and can sort of stabilize you, okay? Renahan says this, God knows all things. At all times, He has a thorough knowledge of himself and of all creation. Has anyone ever heard of, so when I was in seminary, it's called open theism. Has anyone ever heard of that? It was sort of having a heyday 20, I don't want to say how long ago it was, because that might make you think I'm old. They also call it process theology. And God is processing things. He is learning things. And I want you to be very careful, and this is not a dig at Arminianism, but Arminianism, if held to its logical end, leads this way. So this guy who is saying that God will not impose his will upon ours, otherwise we're robots. And this guy meant well. I believe he's converted. But if you follow that through to its logical end, God does not know the future because he does not want to infringe upon my free will. So I'm thinking about doing this, I'm thinking about this. Or this is a guy named William Lane Craig. They start getting into weird, all kinds of, just say what the scripture says. God declares the end from the beginning. He does, and we're not robots. He can handle that, but we don't need to defend him because otherwise we present an impotent God who is sort of just waiting, biting his nails. What is Nathan gonna do? Ryan's kids gonna choose me. What am I gonna do? And just think of the chaos that must invoke upon this God if there's billions of people whom he's waiting to find out what they will do because if he knows what they're gonna do then they're not really free. I hate some of that stuff. Not because I'm an angry Calvinist, but because it so brings God down to our level. as if I can comprehend the incomprehensible one. How is it that he can declare the end from the beginning and yet still hold me responsible and still, as it were, I do have the choice and yet God knows and he is not caught off guard. He's not processing things like it says here at all times. There's not a time that he didn't know back then and he's not gonna learn. He's not growing in knowledge. Because He is. That name Yahweh, I hope, is just the most awe-inspiring name. He is. He is becoming. He's not growing in a sanctification. Perish the thought. His understanding, this is again Renahan, is infinite, extending to all times and places, and is always infallible, absolutely correct, and independent, not relying on the collecting of information from external sources. He's not doing a survey. He's not asking chat GPT, which is often wrong, by the way, just so you know that. If I'm gathering information from 10 liars, I'm gonna give you a lie. So I was watching a debate, I promise I'm not on YouTube all day. Someone gave me, there was a guy decrying a Christian, decrying abortion. And there was this guy, he's talking about when does life begin? And he says, well, let's ask Chad GP. Hey, Chad GPT, when does life begin? He's like, what are you doing? You're just assuming, well, Pastor Nathan taught that when we did AI, as though this is the Oracle. It's just scouring the web, but the web is full of lies. There is truth, but you don't run to Grok or chat GPT for truth. You run to the scriptures, to the God of truth. And the Holy Spirit says Jesus will teach us and lead us in truth. So be very careful. This guy, and he meant well, but he was going to chat GPT to ask about abortion or when does life begin? Well, chat GPT of course told him. that it begins after the child is born, which is a lie. It begins at conception according to scriptures. So, anyway, sorry. I told you, I told you that I was, the caffeine and some of the music this morning was making me lively. But nothing is contingent or uncertain to God. Perfect in his knowledge. And he doesn't do a census. He doesn't do a vote. He doesn't ask the internet to help him. God is. Perfect. Oh, very good. Yeah, so that's Paul. We saw that in Romans 3, and Paul's quoting Psalm 51. Thank you for that, Anthony. That's exactly it. Let God be true, though every man a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words, and that you may prevail when you are judged. Men judge God, and God on that day will publicly reveal what is already true, that he is true, and he is not a liar, and he will vindicate himself. Fourth, his utter sanctity before them, before us, before his creation. Because his counsels reflect his character, His holy will is accomplished. What God knows, God does. I know that's heavy philosophical, and your brain may melt a little bit. Mine does. It doesn't take much to melt, right? Melting an ice cube is different than melting a massive boulder. So my little ice cube brain melts easily. My brain melts when I think about stuff like this. That's crazy. As God is, he does. Anyways, as a result of his being, character and wisdom, this obligates us at all times to bow down and worship before him. So some of you will never understand all that God is, and that's okay, because it's designed that way, right? Isaiah's mind was probably blown when he got a glimpse of God's glory. I'm sure Moses' was, right? Our mind will be blown when we're no longer in this frail, fallen, broken body that has its limitations. And what are we gonna do in heaven? It's gonna be just incessant worship as we come to see him as he is. And that's what John says, we will see him. And we'll be constantly learning. He's not constantly learning, he constantly is, but we will. And that demands worship. And it will be the most freeing, liberating, joyful thing. Yeah, it's not gonna be a burdensome thing to worship God when we see him as he is, okay? So, modern man presumes to stand in judgment of God. God is not before us in the courtroom defending himself. It's actually the other way, right? When it says, let God be true and every man a liar, Paul is using the picture of a courtroom. And like what we said, man loves to invert things, right? And the reality is is that God is actually on his throne and we're standing before him. What we do and what we demand is actually that God get off his throne. We get on the throne and God now defend himself. God is not like that. That's what I love about the word confession. I don't have to defend this. Now, I wanna know it from scripture to be true, but this is what we confess. And if you're having a hard time confessing it, ask the Holy Spirit, not only to teach you from the word, but also, right, we just have a stiff neck. It's hard for us. And we need grace to worship this God. And so say, Lord, this is true. Help, by your grace, my heart to surrender, gladly surrender. It's the best posture to be in. And that's what the confession is meant to do, is to put us in a right frame, a right posture. We assume, as the creature, the right to be angry with God for his deeds. How dare him? And this lesbian meant well. How dare God send 99% of people to hell? Now, that number is, of course, inflated. Who knows the number? I read Revelation, and there's an incalculable amount, right? But even if it were so, right, one of justice's favorite texts comes from Jeremiah 18, quoted in Romans 9. Who are you to tell the potter what to do? Who are you to define fairness? That's Paul's answer. That's his philosophical answer. Who are you, old man? This is blasphemy when we tell God to give an account for his workings in the world. Yahweh is utterly separate and above all such presumption on the part of the creature to stand in judgment of his counsel's works and commands. We are to stand in reverential fear of him even when his ways mystify our minds and disappoint our desires. Lastly, because I have to finish, I guess we'll do the Trinity next week, but Waldron's last sort of heading in paragraph two is his intrinsic claims upon them. Waldron says, finally God is absolutely due anything he may choose to ask of us by way of service, suffering, or devotion. His essential right to the submission of men and angels is absolute. Now remember his intrinsic goodness. He's not gonna ask you to sin. Sometimes people think that. Now, he may ask you to do hard things. He may ask you to do things that you don't fully comprehend. He's worthy of it, right? And what will loosen our hands, what will loosen, say, my hands from things like money or the world or fill in the blank is just to see him as he is, Isaiah, right? What does he do when he sees this glorious one? Here I am. Here I am, send me. Lord, this isn't fair. Lord, send me, I'll go. And so God does have an absolute claim, but let's apply that. For us actually to have a heart, like we know we should, but God has to actually get our hearts. And he does so by revealing himself in all of his glory. And he reveals himself to us in all of his glory in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit has actually been sent forth from the throne of God to reveal Christ to us, to reveal the Father to us, that we would bow down and worship. The Father is seeking those to worship Him in spirit and truth. And He has done so by sending forth His Spirit, having sent forth His Son. And so I know we're just scratching at the surface. But God is worthy of our lives. He is worthy of our devotion. He's worthy of our sacrifice. We don't add to it, but when we do offer up our lives as a living sacrifice, Romans 12, it's wonderfully freeing and liberating and satisfying and fulfilling. As the only creator, God alone is worthy of worship and service. And I want you to understand that. All of life is worship. It's not just, okay, Sunday's worship, and then Monday through Saturday's me. But everything is an act of worship, and there's only one who is worthy of it. Now, I'm not saying quit your job, but rather work, says Paul, to the glory of God, not as eye-pleasers, not as man-pleasers. So whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, 1 Corinthians 10, 31, do all to the glory of God. All of life is worship. and God is worthy of whether you're fathering or mothering or childing, I don't know, obeying your parents, whether you're reading the Bible, sharing the gospel, at the soup kitchen, whatever you're doing, do it as an act of devotion and worship because God is worthy of it. He alone is worthy of it. And when you have that order right, life makes sense. And so he is the only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. To him alone belongs the honor and eternal dominion. That's 1 Timothy 6. Let's pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we thank you that you are, that you're not becoming, you're not learning, We're not adding to your glory this morning. You just are. And Father, we just want to thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in scripture. And Lord, that you have opened up our eyes to see you in truth. Father, I pray for any even here this morning. who are not yours yet by redemption, that you would save them. Lord, the heart of the natural man hates what we have just taught. We almost ball up our fist and shake it to the heavens. How dare our God be God? And so, Lord, we ask even for us at times when we miss you in all of your splendor and glory, and when we forget that you, by nature, are worthy of our life and worthy of our honor and worship, worthy of our sacrifices, Lord, would you forgive us, but would you show us this, and that we would just worship you in spirit and in truth. Help us to be a God-fearing church. Help us to be God-fearing husbands and fathers. Help us to be God-fearing wives and mothers. Enable and help us to be God-fearing children, God-fearing citizens, God-fearing neighbors. And so help us to increasingly come to know who you are, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, the true and the living God. And help us, Lord, to live accordingly, humbly, not arrogantly. And help us, as Peter says, to proclaim the excellencies of the one, of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Thank you, Father, that in Christ you have transferred us from the dominion of darkness into the glorious dominion and kingdom of your Son, whom you love, and help us to worship you accordingly, even this morning, Father. This has been humbling, and this is good. Father, accept our praise, accept our worship, accept us, Lord, in Christ, and for his sake, we ask, amen.