Well let's turn to chapter 2 of the Westminster Confession and tonight I'd like to read section 2 and we'll continue our study of the attributes of God as found there. Remember that section 2 has as its general theme the incommunicable attributes of God, those attributes of God that show his uniqueness, how he's set apart from us His exalted authority over us, the way in which He is holy and set apart from us, these are the attributes that we do not share or, relatively speaking, have less of a share in. Love, for instance, is a communicable attribute. God loves and we love. We love because He loves, but the fact is we have something in common there. So it's communicable, common. But there are attributes of God that are less common, and they are known as the incommunicable ones, and that tends to be the emphasis in this section. We read, God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of himself, and is alone in and unto himself all sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made. not deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, and upon them whatsoever himself pleases. In his sight all things are open and manifest His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men and every other creature whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them. At the end of last week's study, we got into section two and dealt with the self-sufficiency of God, his ultimate independence. Unlike any other being, God stands in need of nothing. And that is stressed in this opening expression, God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in himself and of himself. He doesn't derive it from anyone else or anything else. is alone, uniquely, is alone in and unto himself all sufficient, so that he doesn't stand in need of any creatures which he has made. God doesn't derive glory from them, but only manifests his own glory in them, by them, and unto, excuse me, I've lost my place. in them, by them, unto them, and upon them. That's, I think, the point we ended last week. We were looking at this aspect of God that He is so all-glorious and so self-sufficient and in need of nothing that there's no way for the creature to add anything to His glory. Now that doesn't mean creatures shouldn't glorify Him. But we need to understand that when we glorify Him, when He receives any glory from the created order, that doesn't add to something that is lacking in God. So that the glory is all His even when we glorify Him because He didn't need our glory in the first place. It says He manifests His own glory in us. So when we are able to accomplish things that is to glorify God. He manifests His glory by us. so that what we do is an avenue through which praise comes to his name. He manifests his glory unto us so that we see his glory in everything, we recognize that everywhere, and he manifests his glory upon us in the way that he sovereignly disposes of our lives and guides us and directs us. I wish I could get through even one day of my life with this all-pervasive sense of the glory of God. I know that I don't. The Bible says as soon as we fall short of the glory of God. But this expression that God doesn't derive any glory from us, but only manifest His glory in us, by us, unto us, and upon us. If we could live with that in the forefront of our minds, can you imagine how much more sanctified, how much more holy would be our conduct and our attitudes, and how much more we would worship Him. The confession goes on to say, actually there are five sentences in this section if you want to break it up. The first deals with the self-existence and the self-sufficiency of God, and we're going to continue that. He is alone the fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things. The section is going to go on to talk about him being the sole creator and the one who has sovereign dominion over all things. Then we'll talk about God knowing all things, his omniscience, then the holiness of his will and his works, and finally the worship that is due to him. If we understand his self-sufficiency, that he alone is the creator who has sovereign dominion, that he knows everything, that every will of his is holy, all of his works are holy, then we should be led finally, according to the writers of the Confession, to understand the worship that is due to God. So we looked at the self-existence and self-sufficiency of God. Our next expression is, He is the alone fountain of all being. Nothing has come into existence according to the writers of this Confession. Nothing has come into existence except by the creative power of God. Nothing exists, nothing has being, nothing exists that doesn't have as its fountain, its origin, its source, God. So I want to stop and elaborate on this for a second. If nothing exists except what God has made, then obviously, well, let's start with the easy one. The trees and the streams and the mountains and all the things that we see in this world, from apples to computers, all traced ultimately back to the created will of God. He created everything, right? That should be obvious and that's what most Christians understand by creation. But the Bible teaches us that God also is the source of things that are not material. What immaterial things exist that God has made? Say that again? the soul of man, however we're to understand that, and that is a deep philosophical and theological problem, the reality, the existence of man's personality, intelligence, moral, nature, and so forth, that comes from God too. That doesn't arise from the physical characteristics of man. Rocks have atoms and molecules, we have atoms and molecules, rocks don't think and make moral decisions like we do. And so that difference, however it's understood, is going to have its fountain in God. What else besides human souls, as we say? The laws of logic. Oh, the laws of logic, you're jumping ahead. But before I get to that, how about angels? Yeah, did God make all the angels? Right. Now then, are there realities even abstract realities that are not personal, like souls or angels, that are real. Joe has mentioned the laws of logic. Are the laws of logic real, Michael? Of course not. Yeah, they aren't. And our appeal to them is just subjective, right? Now, are the laws of logic somehow apart from God? Well, when we write a law of logic on a piece of paper, of course that's just an instance of the law. Is the immaterial concept something that exists apart from God? That's a tough philosophical question. I think we should say that the laws of logic are a reflection of the way God thinks. So the laws of logic to whatever degree we abstract them, they still have their fountain in God. Not that he made laws of logic like he made apples, but nevertheless, anything that is real has its fountain in God. The confession goes on to say, of God, about him, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things. Let's take each one of those. All things are of God. He is the origin. We've just said that. So they derive from him. All things operate and came into being through him. It was by his wisdom and his power that everything happened and came into being. And all things are to him. They are for his purpose. God did not create the world for any other purpose but himself. Any other ultimate purpose. God created apples for us to eat, so we can say apples were made to us, but ultimately we eat to the glory of God. So apples were made to help us eat and survive to the glory of God. So everything exists unto Him. Everything comes from Him, through Him, and has as its purpose ultimately God. You can see the Puritan training in Aristotelian categories here. The unto him or to him is the teleological cause. God is the telos or aim or purpose of all things. He is also the source. He is the material cause. He is the efficient cause. Everything then depends upon God. You notice how this is coordinate to his self-sufficiency. Since God is self-sufficient, when the confession goes on to speak about all of the things that exist, they must be related to God in terms of their origin and purpose. Or if they had any, how can I put it, if they came into being apart from God, or had any purpose or aim other than God, then he wouldn't be totally self-sufficient. There'd be something that stands over against him in competition with him. Then in the next section, well the next aspect anyway, in this developing section, section 2, the confession says, God hath most sovereign dominion over them to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleases. Let's look at the, actually we didn't read the biblical support for our last discussion, that is G. down below and we should stop to consider it. There's only one Bible verse used for that very heavy doctrine, but it's a sufficient one to prove the point, Romans 11.36. For of him, through him, and to him are all things, to whom the glory forever. Amen. Since the glory is all God's, is self-sufficient, And you notice how Romans 11.36 ties that to the fact that everything exists because of him and for his purposes. If all things are the source of God somehow, what can we say about evil, for example? We have to say that God is the source of evil, too. Let's go on now. No, we can't go on now because that raises some questions, doesn't it? If God is the source of evil, Is God himself evil? Does the Bible teach that God is the source of evil? If you ask most evangelical Christians today, I dare say they would jump back and forth. Of course not! God is not the source of evil. Well, we're getting to a theological distinction here. Let me first ask you, does the Bible teach that God is the source of evil? Amos says, can evil befall the city and God not have done it? Yeah, the tragedies that befall us, the evils that come upon us, God has done that. How about moral evil? Is God the origin of moral evil? Origin? We have to be careful which terms we use. Does God plan moral evil? Can anyone give me an example to prove the point? Hardens the Pharaoh's heart. Okay, so he hardens people's hearts that they will not obey. What is the arch crime of history? The crucifixion of Jesus. What does Acts chapter 2 and chapter 4 tell us about the crucifixion? It was done by the poor ordination of God. That evil hands performed it. Acts tells us that. You by wicked hands did what God had before determined that you would do. So the Bible says that God plans everything, even the wickedness of men, and yet the Bible says the wickedness belongs to men, not to God. Trust me, if you want to go into a long study of this, there are people who teach courses, more than one, to try to get to the bottom of this sort of thing. I'm not going to do all of that for you in a couple of minutes here. But I do believe that the teaching of the Bible is in one sense clear enough and simple enough for a childlike believer. And I'm going to give it to you very simply. God says that when he plans things, like evil acts of men, he does not do it in such a way that people are forced against their will to do what they're doing. And that what God is accomplishing through that act, let's say robbing a liquor store, You have a guy who goes in, pulls out a gun, robs a liquor store. What God is doing through that event is not what the man who's robbing the liquor store is trying to accomplish. Okay, he's motivated by selfishness, by violence, anger, whatever it may be. What he's trying to accomplish is not what God is trying to accomplish. If God had the same mindset, motivation, and end as the thief, then of course God would be evil. But God is accomplishing other purposes through that event. And God, though he planned that the man would rob the liquor store, the man did not rob the liquor store under compulsion. It's not as though there was some kind of supernatural gun to his head where he said, oh, I've got to go in and rob this liquor store. God has ordained it. What can I do about it? In fact, Paul says in Romans 9, when people try to give that response, they say, but who can resist his will? Paul says, who are you to talk back to God? God doesn't force us to do the things that we do. Now at this point, and this is the real crucial issue, theologically, at this point, people are going to say, but I don't understand how God can do that. I don't either. But your not understanding and my not understanding how God pulls it off has nothing to do with whether God can do it. I don't know how God made a virgin have a baby. I don't know how Jesus walked on water. I don't know how he raises the dead. The fact that we don't know how to do it doesn't mean that it's impossible to be done. And so according to the teaching of the Bible, God does plan and therefore is the origin even of the evil acts of men and the suffering that takes place in this world. And yet he is not the author, in another chapter when we come to this, he is not called the author of sin. The metaphor of being an author I think is tied to having moral responsibility for it. God may have predestined that you would speak something that's a lie. But God is not the author of your sin. He's not the responsible party for your having said it. You are responsible because you did what you wished to do, and you did it contrary to the character and holiness and glory of God, whereas He planned that you would do it to accomplish other things which are good and glorious and quite in character with His righteousness. And so there's two levels here, God's ordaining and planning, and then what we do. And everything God plans is reflected in what we do, but we do things for evil motives that God doesn't have, and we do things freely even though God has predestined them. We're going to have occasion to discuss this more, but does that at least begin to explain how he could be the author, not the author, but the origin or fountain of evil, he plans it, even though he doesn't himself do evil things? If I tell Dr. Bronson, go ahead and kill yourself, and you go ahead and kill yourself, am I responsible for it? Just because I told you to do so? So I'm just trying to have our time separated. God at the same time stimulates that, but on the other hand is not responsible for it. But you have to understand, God doesn't say to the thief, go rob that liquor store. He's not the author. He has not spoken that as a command. In fact, that person is, although doing what God has planned for history, is doing something contrary to what God has spoken. God says, thou shalt not steal. This person goes and steals. And it's going to come back to this mystery that God plans these things and yet we freely do them and so we're the responsible party for them. We're going to cover this in another chapter. Let's leave it at that for tonight. The confession has said God's alone the fountain of all that is real, of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things. The Bible teaches us that God has even made the wicked for the day of judgment. That is the wicked serve his purposes even in their wickedness. Everything is unto him. And then it goes on to say he hath most sovereign dominion over them to do by them, for them, and upon them whatsoever he hath pleased. And let's look at the scripture text used to support this. There are quite a few, relatively speaking. Revelation 4.11, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Notice that. Nothing exists in this world, even the bad things. The unhappy things, nothing exists in this world except by the pleasure of God, they were created for him. Now 1 Timothy 6 verse 15, which has already been written out for us under D above, which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords. And so he has sovereign dominion. All things exist for His pleasure, and He is the King over all things. Daniel 4.25, that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee. Tell thou no. You know who this is spoken to? Do you remember? It's Nebuchadnezzar. God is going to humble Nebuchadnezzar. These things will happen. and he's going to act like an animal, he's going to eat grass like the cattle, he's going to wander out in the dew of the early morning like an animal, he's going to lose his senses until he's come to realize this crucial truth, that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever he will. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he does according to his will in the army of heaven, that's among the angels, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? I love this passage. It's really noble and magnificent, isn't it? It says to Nebuchadnezzar, you proud, arrogant, pagan king, God will humble you like an animal until you realize that he's the king. He's the sovereign. He rules over all. And he rules even in the kingdom of men. Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the greatest and at the time he was the most powerful ruler on earth. He had this huge empire. And God says, you are nothing to me. I'll turn you into an animal until you realize that I'm the one who rules. I sovereignly dispose of the nations. I give authority to rule and power to whomsoever I will. God doesn't consult with others. He doesn't negotiate with men. God says, it's all up to me. Well then, what do we make of these mighty inhabitants of the earth? I dare say, when you watch the 6 o'clock news and the international news and all that, we have the impression that momentous things happen, you know, in the earth and there are real movers and shakers and powerful people. The Bible tells us that the inhabitants of the earth are to God as nothing. You want to get some idea of the exalted nature of God, completely different from us in this way. For God, the inhabitants of the earth mean nothing. Elsewhere in the scripture, he says, the nations are like the dust in the balance. You know, when you go to the butcher shop and he weighs the meat for you, Do we worry about the dust that's in the balance? Nah, it's nothing. God says all the nations are like the dust of the balance to me. Here he says the inhabitants of the earth are reputed to be nothing. And God does whatever he wishes. He does it among the angels, he does it among the inhabitants of the earth. And notice two things here. No one can stay his hand, okay? So if God wants to reach out and do something, no one can hold his hand back, no one can stay his hand. When God extends his arm to accomplish something in the world, this is anthropomorphism, God doesn't have a physical arm obviously, but to speak as humans do, when God extends his hand to do something, no one can push it back. And, it says, no one can say to him, what do you think you're doing? I've used that expression sometimes in my own family when my boys are doing something that I don't think I like, you know, and I have that kind of cutting, almost accusatory tone when I say, what do you think you're doing? No one can talk to God like that. No one can even raise the question out of curiosity. God, what are you doing? No one dares to talk back to God. I love this passage. It shows us that God has dominion, it is sovereign. According to the confession it is over all things, so it's not like he's down among the inhabitants of the earth negotiating and trying to work things out. He's over them and he does by them, that is he'll do according to what we choose in all of our activities. He'll do whatever he wishes. He does for us whatever he wishes. He owes us nothing, we can't go to him in demand, and he does upon us whatsoever he pleases. So through us he accomplishes his purposes, for us his purposes, and upon us, according to his desire, all things work out in our lives. Now a moment ago the question was asked, what about evil? We've already discussed that. I was going to bring that up at this point in my notes, I want you to look up Isaiah 45.7 just so you know that the Bible teaches exactly what I said to you a few moments ago. Rob, can I get you to read that for us? Isaiah 45.7. The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these. The Lord says, I'm the one who creates all these things. Even calamity, even evil that comes upon the city. Okay, section two has taught us two things thus far about God. We're moving into a third point, but just to review, we see the self-existence and the self-sufficiency of God. Secondly, we see that he's the sole creator who has sovereign dominion over all things. I almost regret that we have to cover so much in one lesson because, as I've said before, I think Every one of these things we learn about God is enough to make us go home and say we should praise him for a day or two. Just thinking about that. And when we add more things to it, we may have the idea that that diminishes the importance of what we've been looking at already. This really would be worth your meditation and your praise of God. I hope that you'll take the time to do that. But the third point, to move ahead, the third point in this section is the omniscience of God. In his sight all things are open and manifest. His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain." I don't want to go into all of the deep philosophy of religion implications of this, but for those who are listening by tape and those of you who are interested here tonight, quite clearly This declaration of the confession has major philosophical import. Many issues that are debated in philosophy even today are dealt with here in short order. The Puritans tell us, first of all to begin with the obvious, that in God's sight all things are open and manifest. The scripture texts, Hebrews 4.13, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight But all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." That's a terrifying truth, isn't it? Can't hide from God. We can hide from one another. We can even do things that other people don't know about. Some people might think, well even if I'm... if people in principle might be able to find out about my external behavior. No one can know what I'm thinking. The Bible says every creature is laid bare and naked before God. When Jesus was on earth you notice how on occasion he mystified and terrified his opponents because he told them what they were thinking. And you mustn't read that as just Jesus watching the body language and saying, oh I suspect that what's going on of Jesus knew their very thoughts. He knew the very words with which they were thinking these thoughts. And God knows us that way. So this can be a terrifying doctrine. It should terrify us that we cannot hide from God. We can hide from others, we might even take our wickedness and not make it an external matter, but God sees our very desires, our plans, our unspoken words. Every creature is laid open to Him. And He knows me that way, he knows everyone in this room that way, he knows the whole human race that way. He knows every created thing inside and out. I think it really, it doesn't come anywhere close to expressing the fullness and depth of this, but you might think about it as God has perfect x-ray vision. Nothing, nothing escapes his sight. Now I say that could be a terrifying doctrine, it is a terrifying doctrine. How should we respond if we believe that God knows all things? Better get our lives in order, huh? Better stop thinking those wicked thoughts and muttering under your breath those things you shouldn't be saying. Better stop daydreaming for things which are sinful and wrong. Better stop doing things... Many times, let me give you one example, we do things which are outwardly good, but we're doing it for selfish reasons. God knows our selfishness even when we do the right thing. And so, if God knows all things, that should have a very sanctifying effect on us. It should turn us from our sin and make us mindful that we live in the presence of one who has that kind of moral x-ray vision, knows everything about us. Dave? I wouldn't deny that, of course, it's true, but I think it's a comforting thing, too, because without that, without God having that ability, And when we have to face in life and the very prize of your heart, if he wasn't privy to that, I think that's worse than having to know our sin and deal with that and say he couldn't know all this. Well, in a sense you've anticipated where I'm going. This is a terrifying doctrine, but on the other hand it's a comforting doctrine that when God promises to take care of us, to be with us, we never have to worry that God maybe would miss something. You know, I know the experience of going to an earthly doctor where it's crucial, you know, for my health or to relieve the pain that I'm in or something, that he know what he's talking about. And I know what it's like to leave saying, well, but dad, did he do all the tests he needed to? Does he need more information? Could he have gotten it wrong? But we don't have to worry about that with God. He knows everything inside and out. There is a great comfort in that. And of course, um, If God knows us this well, it not only is comforting to realize we can trust His promises, but if God loves us and He knows us that well, what does that tell you about His graciousness? You ever stop to think, how could someone respect me or care for me if they knew what I really thought? If they knew how base my motives were, how selfish or bitter or whatever it may be that I am. Well, there is someone who knows all that. and he still loves you enough to give his own son to die for your sins. So the omniscience of God has a lot of moral applications. Not only should it terrify us and turn us from our sin, comfort us that God knows what he's talking about, but it should lead us also to glorify him and to take great joy in the grace and mercy that he shows us. Going on with the omniscience of God, the confession says his knowledge is infinite. What does infinite mean? There are no limits, no boundaries. There's nothing that can be known that God doesn't know. Nothing that can be known. So let's play with this for a minute here. Get into some of these philosophical problems. Does God know what all the possibilities are? I mean, you start to think that What could I do on Saturday? I could go to the Dodger game, I could mow my lawn, I could sleep in, I could go out to eat, I could take a shower. Do you know all the possibilities for what you could do on Saturday? Do you? Nope. You know quite a few of them though, right? Now let's talk about all the possibilities you know for Saturday and then take one more person in the room. Let's just use Joe and me. What about all the possibilities for Joe? Does Joe know all the possibilities for himself? No. Do I know all the possibilities for Joe? No. But God does. And God knows all the possibilities for Saturday for everyone in this room. God knows all the possibilities for Saturday for everybody in the universe. Everybody on Earth. Now, if I think one of the possibilities on Saturday is that I'll go to the Dodger game. But it turns out that one of the possibilities for Joe is that he will borrow my car and not return it in time for me to go to the game. Then that complicates the possibilities, doesn't it? Not only giving you one illustration. Start thinking about this, all the interaction possibilities. What if I think it's possible that I'll sleep in, but I don't know that my next door neighbor is going to mow his lawn at 8 in the morning. Now I can't sleep there. So when I start thinking about possibilities I've got to factor in what other people's possibilities are too. And I think it would get rather complicated if we only dealt with Joe and me and my next door neighbor. But we've got more people than that in this room and more people in Orange County and all the United States and all the world. God knows everything. His knowledge is infinite. So God knows all the things which are true. All the facts of history God knows. And God also knows all the possibilities for past history, the present moment, and the future. Let me push this a bit further. How much is there to know about, let's just say, the physics of the layout of this room? I have a tape recorder working here. Do you know everything about the working of a tape recorder? Some human being does. I don't. Well, God knows what that human being knows. and much more. In fact, God knows the molecular structure of the wood that's in this table on which the tape recorder sits. Now, you all have had some elementary science. What are molecules or atoms made up of? Well, protons and neutrons, electrons, subatomic particles, so forth. That's a lot of stuff to know, isn't it? The Bible says that God knows the position and the velocity of every subatomic particle that exists. He knows everything. To use a more pedestrian illustration, not so much modern science, but Jesus said there's not a hair that falls from your head that doesn't do so according to the will of God. God knows everything. Are you beginning to get some idea of what this means to have infinite knowledge? He not only knows, think about the subatomic particles in the wood, in the molecules that are in the wood of this one table, and then expand that. God knows all the planets. You know, we don't know all the stars. God knows all the stars. He numbers them. He names them. God knows all of our thoughts. He knows all of the possibilities for what we could say, what we could do. every possibility, all of the details of the physics, and he knows everything in the future as well. Next time you pray, well you may want to really humble yourself before a being who knows that much. He knows you inside and out, and he knows every detail of everything that will happen. Not only is his knowledge infinite, the confession says it's infallible. Is that a communicable attribute? I want you to think hard now. I'll try to throw you off. If God's knowledge is infallible, then he knows the truth. He doesn't make mistakes. Well, isn't it true that we sometimes know the truth? We don't always make mistakes. So we might think, well, that's a communicable attribute, isn't it? Now, Mike, you're shaking your head. It's possible for us to, in principle, for us to do things wrong. It's an impossible principle for God to make mistakes. Yeah, I want you to look at the word itself, infallible. He is not able to fail when he knows things. So even when I am correct, and sometimes I am, I mean I am exactly right. When I get into an argument with my son, I want to make it clear, I know what I'm talking about. Sometimes I do. But even when I'm exactly right, I'm not infallible. You know? If I take a real strong stand on something and I have a lot of evidence and really demonstrate my point, somebody can always say to me, but you could be wrong. I say, well yeah, as a person, as a thinker, as a knower, it is possible for me to be wrong. Now get this, not only is God's knowledge infinite, and I just tried to elaborate a little bit on what that means, but in nothing can God, is it even possible for him to be mistaken. This flows from what we've seen previously that God has sovereign dominion over all things. The reason why it's impossible for God to be mistaken is because it's God's knowledge that makes things the way they are. We always, in the things we know, know them by discovery. God knows them because he's the origin, he's the creator of all things. When God thinks things, they happen that way. I think I've used this illustration with you before, but I really like it. It's homey, but it gets to the point, I was once talking to Dr. Van Til in his home, and he was illustrating the difference between man's knowing and God's knowing, saying God is incomprehensible. And he said, if I want to know how many socks I have in my drawer upstairs, I have to go upstairs and open the drawer and look. God doesn't. And he said, and that isn't because God has x-ray vision from heaven and can look into my drawer without opening it. It's because that I have a home, that I have a dresser, that there are any socks in there is all due to the knowledge of God. God's knowing makes the situation what it is. And since God has sovereign dominion over all things, since he determines even the subatomic particles in the very areas of our head, it's impossible for God to ever be wrong. So his knowledge is infallible and that's an incommunicable attribute. I am never infallible. Even on my best days, when I happen to be right, I'm not right because I'm infallible. I'm only right because I've got God's thoughts after me. What about in heaven? I don't believe that we can say that we are infallible even in heaven, but I have to draw a distinction here. In heaven we will not make mistakes. Well, I don't know, we might make mistakes. There may be a trial and error process of learning in heaven. I don't want to prejudice that. We will not make any moral mistakes in heaven. And yet, we will still be free. And if we remember that, we'll still be human beings with free will, but we'll never use our free will in a rebellious way. By analogy, I want to say, We might not make mistakes in heaven, but we're always, as finite creatures, subject to error. It may be that by God's goodness and power we're not going to make errors, but it's that infallible aspect. I don't think we'll ever be infallible. Only God has that characteristic. His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature. By the way, we would say today independent of the creature, but you understand why in the days of older English we talk about being dependent upon something, well then also you're independent upon something. It's just a different linguistic expression that we use today. God's knowledge doesn't depend on the creature. God doesn't need to consult with us to find out. He doesn't have to do research. Can I put it that way? God doesn't have to look up things in the encyclopedia or consult us or say now, what do you think you're going to do on Saturday? Or what are you thinking right now? I've already given you the illustration. God doesn't know anything by discovery. So He doesn't have to go to the created order or to creatures, men and so forth and do research to find out. Everything he knows is independent of the preacher. K is the biblical text given in proof. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. The depth of the knowledge of God. How unsearchable, unfathomable are his judgments and his ways best finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? God doesn't need to go to anyone for counsel. He doesn't need to get advice. He doesn't need to get you know, information from anybody. And in Psalm 147.5, Great is our Lord, and of great power His understanding is infinite. Now if God's knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent, the confession draws this inference, so as, it says, so as nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain. What does it mean for something to be contingent? Well, it's not necessary. It could or it could not be. Now, is my going to the Dodger game on Saturday contingent to me? Yeah, because as far as I know, it could happen, it could not happen. Does that mean it's contingent for God? No. Because for God, what's going to happen is necessarily going to happen, because He has planned it that way. So nothing he knows is contingent knowledge. Nothing he knows is uncertain. It's important when you study philosophy and theory of knowledge to distinguish between various, what we call, epistemic notions. And one distinction that many people don't draw, it's important to pick up on, is there's a difference between knowledge and certainty. There's a difference between believing something that is true and having good reason, and believing something that is true and being certain of it. Something to think about this. Do I know that my car is outside right now? For those listening by tape, I can't see out the window. Well, I'd say I know. I believe it, it's true, so I'm going to go check to make sure of that, and I have good reason to believe it. But would I say that I am certain that my car is outside? No, certainty takes things a step beyond just having knowledge. It's a knowledge which can't fail, right? Cannot. I'm certain that all bachelors are unmarried. Take a trivial example. I'm also certain that God exists. I'm certain that I exist. And you have to take one of my courses to get into the various ways in which we're certain about these things. So I am certain about some things. But the vast majority of things that can be said that I know are not known with certainty. They are known, and that's what's important. But they're not known with certainty. Now let's ask about God. Is this something that's common between me and God? No, everything God knows, He knows with certainty. Isn't that amazing? So this part of the confession stresses the incommunicable attributes of God, and particularly the transcendent character of God's knowing, how it goes beyond anything in the created order, goes beyond anything in man. God is incomprehensible. There's a quality to his knowledge that is never true of ours. Our knowledge is not infinite, our knowledge is not infallible, our knowledge is contingent, our knowledge is uncertain, but not his. Well, this is a good place to break. We'll continue in our next study, when I'm with you, in this section two, and I'm fairly certain we can finally finish it when we get together again. Do you have any questions on what we've covered tonight, Nikki? Why don't you talk about God knowing every possibility that happens? There might be some kind of proof that you're willing to do that. I just need a one-minute little testament where someone asks, What if we do this and God says that this will happen? Is that something necessary in the idea of God's conditions? Well, I would think that it's provable from the simple statement that His understanding is infinite. That is a direct quote. And if it's infinite, that means there's no limit. If there's anything that can be known, God knows it. If He plans whatever happens, then I guess I think, why would He need to plan all the possibilities and know all the possibilities? And notice what you just said though, and I'm not trying to be picky, but I'll help you out of this conundrum. You said, why would he need to plan all the possibilities? I didn't say that he needs to do anything. And I'm not saying that he plans possibilities, I'm saying he knows the possibilities. He knows what all of the infinite variety and interaction of subatomic particles and choices made by human beings and so forth could be. It's not a matter of him needing to, it's because God is who he is that he does. Isn't that tied up with the whole idea of certainty? It has something to do with that, right. He could not know certainly how his own plan would progress if he didn't have this other quality. God knows all the possibilities and he chooses which he wants to take place. I was thinking something along that line, but I was thinking a little differently. To me there wouldn't be any possibility because there's only one plan. So there's never a possibility for God because this is the plan. Okay, we're getting into some heavy or deep water philosophically, but I appreciate this. Let me see if I can clarify this. When we speak about possibility, we want to be very consistent as Reformed Christians. that possibility is not more ultimate than God. We mustn't think of there being possibilities of which God is one. Let me say that again. We don't want to think of there being possibilities of which God is one. If you think that way, then the field of possibility is broader than the field of what God is and what he does. We believe God is the source of all possibility. So possibility is not more ultimate to think metaphorically, it doesn't lie beyond or behind God. And so because God is the source of all possibility, he's a necessary being, isn't he? It is necessary that God exists and that God be the God that he is. Because there can't be any possibility more ultimate than him. However, that is different from saying that what has happened has to happen and there isn't any other possibility. Just to take an arbitrary example, I drove my car to the Bible study tonight. But it isn't impossible that I could have driven one of my son's cars to the Bible study tonight. And when we say that it's possible, what we mean is that it's still within the range of what God could have determined. He could have determined that. He didn't. We want to add that God could have done otherwise. Otherwise, because if we don't say that, we're saying that God was bound to make the choices that He did. But God is free, isn't He? We've already studied that. Nothing binds God. God, by His sovereign good pleasure that just amazes me, chose that there would be a night in my life when I would hear the Gospel and I'd go back and pray and ask that Christ would forgive me. and to put my faith in Him. Okay, so God predestined that would happen. But was God bound to do that? Could God have not overlooked me? Do I want to say God's hands were tied? No. I want to say that was a free choice made by Him. He had no compunction that forced Him to choose me to believe in Him. And so we do want to say it's possible that I would not have been saved. But there is no possibility more ultimate than God. So have I said this in enough ways that we've clarified through this possibility thing, Mike? We've talked before about the best of all possible worlds. You said there's multiple best of all possible worlds. Now, it doesn't seem to me that if God was going to create a world, we're on the way to the best of all possible worlds. And I guess there could be many worlds. But it doesn't seem that God could create the best of all possible worlds without morally free agency. But then it seems to me that you have to say something really that puts strictures around God's freedom. He couldn't have created a world without human beings or morally free agency. What would you say to that? Which part? Well, the part of the dilemma. The dilemma being God having to create a world with human beings or or rational beings, and I mean, the dilemma is that God could not, on the one hand, God could not, it seems to me, on one position, that God could not create a world with that morality. Why not? Why couldn't he? Well, because it wouldn't be the best of all possible worlds. Because we know that this is the best of all possible worlds because we're in it, and God couldn't have created a world that wasn't the best of all possible worlds. Maybe the implicit fallacy is the idea that there is a best. Maybe there are equally good worlds, one of which doesn't have rational creatures. Well, yeah, but that seems like an odd thing to say though. It does seem like an odd thing to say, but I don't think we're going to get any of this resolved. I believe there are a lot of hidden ambiguities and probably false metaphysical assumptions when we get into these best of all possible worlds discussions. And I just don't think we're going to be able to really get to the bottom of it tonight, I'm sorry. Okay, one more question. It's impossible for God to discover anything, and I want to be clear in saying that I believe fully in God's freedom. I don't think that his knowledge of anything binds him. But God has always known, as long as he has existed, because he couldn't discover anything, what he would do, and yet that knowledge of what he would do is not such a part of him that it was necessary for him to do what he chose to do. But it was always there with him. So, in what sense, how do you deal with God's freedom since that knowledge of what he would do is eternal? It's not anything he ever discovered. It has lasted as long as he has. He's always known what his plan would be. And God is unchanging. And God is unchanging. So, God is unchanging and yet, at some point, he made the world. And at some point he determined to make the world. Yeah, it is a great mystery. How do we bring this two together? Isn't it an anthropomorphism to say at some point he determined that he would do that? He always knew he would do it. In other words, I guess what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to, without overly anthropomorphizing, I'm trying to understand something about God's choice without making his knowledge so essentially part of him. that his plan was necessary to. At the point, speaking anthropomorphically, at the point when God determined to create the world, to save certain individuals, etc., that choice did not change God. And yet there was nothing in the choice that was necessitated by anything other than God's own free volition. And so if God knew from all eternity that at some point he would choose to create the world, his knowing it did not force him to do it. What I'm doing is we're iterating levels metaphysically for looking at this, and knowing that we're dealing anthropomorphically, I mean speaking anthropomorphically probably doesn't give us a lot of confidence, If you want to say God knew from all eternity that at some point he would create the world, or make the decision to create the world, he did know that he would make that decision, but his knowing it did not make the decision necessary. But in a real sense the decision was already made, right? Well, in a real sense, because God's unchanging, his choices are unchanging. Is this just one of those kinds of things because we have to speak anthropomorphically that we're never going to get anywhere? I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with this. Maybe there's a better theologian than me around who can get to the bottom of this. But yeah, it's a great mystery, I think. After all, we are dealing with things which are incommunicable. We don't have anything in common with God that would help us as a stepping stone to see how He does what He does. Let's close with a word of prayer. Lord, we have studied so many deep and wondrous things about you tonight. We do pray that as we go away, you would help us to meditate and continue to meditate upon your greatness and to realize that you are so set apart from us, that you are so different from us, that the things about you in which we find very little reflection or analogy at all, you are a truly wondrous being. We do ask that you would fill our minds and our hearts with this truth, that we would bow before you and worship you, that our lives would be changed because we know these things about you. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that as mysterious as God is to us finite and fallible and fallen human beings, that you have come into this world to declare the Father to us. that even though we may not know God in and of Himself, we do know You, and we can relate to You because You have become like unto us. We do pray that You would help us to honor Your Word and to follow Your direction, that we might love You all the more, for we pray in Your precious Name. Amen.