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There are various attributes that come to the forefront when considering the doctrine of God. One is divine simplicity. God is not simple so what does this mean? It has to do with the unity of God. God is one. This is traced back to the name "I AM THAT I AM" in Exodus 3. It describes that God is all that He is all the time. He does not have the potential to be anything other than He is. Some would say that this makes God strange to us and that He is like a stone that does not have the potential to move and flow with us in all the changes in our lives. But it really means that God has no potential to be other than He is because everything that He is is perfect. We talk about attributes as ways of describing the one essence of God. The doctrine of divine simplicity simply tells us that God is. He does not have love or have goodness or have truth. He is love. He is goodness. He is truth. More than this, He is not any of these attributes in parts. He is fully love and fully goodness and fully truth. This has wide-ranging implications for the Christian life. This means that God does not have the potential to be more loving or less loving. He simply is love in the infinity of His being.

This webinar will focus on various perspectives on when to disobey government orders that restrict the church. The panelists I have invited maintain nuanced and even different answers. This will be a time for men to present their cases, and to engage in some gracious debate on the matter. While the church exists under totalitarian regimes quite often, Americans are stunned at what has happened. Pastors and congregations asking questions they have never had to ask before. How are they supposed to honor and obey the king and honor and obey the Lord at the same time in this particular situation in America? Is it possible? If so how is it possible? If not what should the church do?

The Bible speaks of God's holiness in many different places. When Israel was brought out of their slavery in Egypt, one of the things they sang of on the banks of the Red Sea was the holiness of God. He is "glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15:11) Isaiah, when he caught his vision of the exalted Lord sitting upon His throne in the temple, heard angels crying, "Holy, holy, holy." But we can be familiar with words in the Bible without really understanding what they mean. When you think of the holiness of God, think of it in two ways: He is not like anything in creation. He is not even like angels. He is totally different and all together "other." Theologians call Him "transcendent" which means that He is above and unlike everything that He has made. In Isaiah 6, holy angels are crying, "Holy, holy, holy" and you think to yourself, "But the angels are holy." They are not holy in the same way that God is holy. The Bible tells us that "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) I can say to you, "God is holy" and you understand the word. Or I can say to you "God is light" and you begin to see pure, brilliant, spotless white against something that is black and dark and sinful.

In this message, Gavin Beers preaches from 2 Samuel 7 and provides a brief overview of the history of Israel. He starts by describing the families of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham's family eventually grows into a nation. He looks at four influential families in this book of the Bible and important lessons that we can learn from each family. He begins with the household of Elkanah. Romans 15:4 (NKJV) - "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

The sermon titled 'The Jurisdiction of the Church' discusses the importance of the church as the most significant institution on the planet, founded by Jesus Christ and existing eternally. The speaker emphasizes the powers and duties of the church, including preaching the gospel, defining its authority and government, and handling attacks against it. The church is considered essential, responsible for gathering, preaching, prayer, singing, administration of ordinances, discipline, fellowship, discipleship, and serving. The sermon highlights the need for bold leadership, encouragement, and adherence to the biblical principles of the church.

That can have consequences for their confidence in coming to the Lord's table. It is not unusual to be asked as a pastor, "What should I do if I have lost assurance of salvation or do not have any assurance? Should I stay away from the Lord's supper or come and partake of the Lord's supper?" One thing to remember is that assurance is not of the essence of faith which means that a person can have faith, but not be assured of the fact that he has that faith. He may believe everything in the Bible about God, Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation. But his question is, "How do I know for sure that I believe?" Our forefathers in the faith wrestled long and hard with this question. The early reformers tended to bring the two things together. John Knox would have told you that the person who has faith is assured of his salvation. But a hundred years later the puritans came to see that many people in their congregations struggled with this. In the Westminster Confession of Faith they provided a whole chapter on the subject and Question #172 of the Larger Catechism says, "Q. May one who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation, come to the Lord’s supper?" They teach us in the answer that if the person who is doubting is concerned about that doubt, is fighting sin, and without scandal in his life, the Lord's supper is a means of grace in his life whereby his strength may be strengthened.

This is the most important question that a man can ask. How do we break this down for a child? The best way to begin is to think about how we know one another. We might know things about a person without personally knowing the individual. The only way we can know each other is to communicate with one another. In the Bible, God communicates to us. So we go to the Bible to hear what God says about Himself and us. This is how we learn who He is. But there is still a breakdown in this relationship. Something has to be overcome so that we can truly know God. The Bible tells of Jesus Christ. We read the Word of God, learn who Jesus is, go to Him as a sinner, and pray that the Holy Spirit would teach us to know God through Christ. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." - John 17:3

On this broadcast, we will tell the remarkable story of a plague-ridden Scottish town in 1647. At the leadership of a pastor, in response to the plague, there were waves of corporate confessions of sin. The plague sparked widespread repentance, which unleashed many blessings. Times of refreshing came upon for the hearts of the people, holiness increased in the churches and, commercial prosperity rose significantly in the town. Join me and Gavin Beers to look into this particular moment in the history of plagues converging on the church. The year was 1647 in the Scottish town of Ayr, Scotland. My guest, Gavin Beers, is one of the pastors in the NCFIC church network. He was a pastor in Ayr for twelve years (now pastoring in Mebane, North Carolina). On this broadcast, we will consider the plague in Ayr, and bring the Word of God to bear on the matter of repentance in the church.

In fact, God is so great that the only way we can understand anything about Him at times is by learning what He is not. If we say that God is immutable, we are saying He is not mutable. If we say God is impassable, we are saying He does not have passions. If we say God is infinite, we are saying that He is not finite. Finite things have limits and boundaries and cannot be perfect. God is not like this. He has no limits, no boundaries, and is absolutely perfect in all that He is. Maybe it is best to understand it when you take infinity and apply it to the other attributes of God. If you think of God in respect to duration, He is infinite which means He is eternal with no beginning and no end. If you consider God's power, He is limitless with respect to His power. He is omnipotent. The infinity of God speaks of God being without limitations and absolutely perfect in all that He is.

Omniscience has to do with God's knowledge. God is infinite in all that He is which relates to His knowledge. He is infinite in His knowledge in respect to every detail that there is to be known in the whole of the created universe at all times throughout its history. He not only knows what is, but what also could be. It is quite amazing if you think of all of the twists and turns in your life and multiply that by all the people that are in the world today and in the history of the world. God does not "know" the way we "know." We are born ignorant and learn. We gradually grow knowledge and then, the older we get, we forget much that we knew in the past. There is growth and loss in our knowledge. Think of the illustration of a parade that passes through a city. You stand at a point and watch the parade pass from beginning to end. This parade is the history of the world. But image someone who is looking down from above on the whole parade. He sees, in an instant, what you see over a period of time. He also sees all of the streets that the parade could have passed down, but did not. This is a little bit like God's knowledge of all things.

In this sermon, Gavin Beers highlights the importance of having a vision of God's glory to compel Christian service. He discusses the experience of Isaiah, who was compelled by a vision of God's holiness in the year King Uzziah died. Beers outlines six ways the vision of God's glory can help believers in the 21st century, including drawing them to worship, compelling labor, providing encouragement, maintaining faithfulness, encouraging gospel preaching, and preventing pride. He emphasizes the importance of keeping this vision in the forefront of believers' minds as they serve God and navigate the challenges of today's world.