Thank you, brother. All right, we're in, we're considering the book that Don Fortner wrote, The Basic Doctrines of the Bible, and we're in chapter 7, and chapter 7, Don brings out the attributes, the characteristics verse 3 where it says, and this is life eternal, now listen to these words, that they, those who have life eternal, this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So we need to know who God is And Don brings out, this is a basic Bible teaching. And we're gonna be looking at a lot of verses. Last week we had to cut it short, and I apologize for that again. But we'll pick it up again where we left off last week.

And the first thing he brings out to us is that knowledge is essential to faith, for us to believe. And if you go to John chapter 10, where it talks about how are you gonna call upon the name of the Lord if you don't know who he is? Very simple. The Lord saves through the preaching of His words. Well, how are you going to worship Him if you don't know the truth of who He is? The essential knowledge of who He is. And that's what Don's talking about.

Listen to this. Don wrote this. He says, Yet our Lord, Jesus, tells us that God is Spirit. And because God is Spirit, He cannot be known by natural senses and abilities. If we try to match what we know You lose it. You can't do it. That's why I say over and over again, there's some things about God's Word we just need to stop trying to explain and let God use it for itself. How can you explain God being made sin? How can you explain God being manifest in the flesh and walking among sinners? What a miracle. What a miracle. Miracle means something you can't explain. Something that is above man's wisdom. What a miracle.

Don goes on to say this, he could be known by us only as he is pleased to reveal himself to us in his word. And then he refers to this in John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 and 14. He refers to, he says, in John the beginning was the Word. Now this is revealed to the people of God by God Himself. We all must be taught of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."

So you see what Don is talking about here, and we're going to look at his attributes in the same way. Now, what are God's attributes? The attributes of God are the perfections of His nature. writes our brother Don, the characteristics of his being as God. God's attributes are those traits of his character essential to his divinity. As we look at the attributes of God revealed in scriptures, remember that if any one of these attributes did not belong to him, he could not be called God. These are the things which are essential to knowing who he is. And he brings out 13 of those attributes which are essential to God's being.

Now last week we looked at self-existence and we went through several scriptures that describe God Almighty, his life in himself. He's self-existent. He's independent and underrived. He was not His being is inexhaustible, and we went through all that last week, so I'm not gonna go through that again. We're gonna pick it up next, where the next attribute he brings forth is spirituality. God is spirit. He's not just a spirit, he is spirit. He has no body or parts like we do. He is the pure, underrived, eternal spirit. Look over at Genesis chapter one, verse two. Genesis chapter one, This is the Spirit. This is before anything that is, was. Before anything was created. Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. upon the face of the waters."

So we see there the spirituality of our Lord Jesus. Turn now to the right over to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Like I said at the beginning of this chapter, we're going to be looking at a lot of verses. So I don't know how far we're going to get through this 7th chapter. There's 13 different characteristics that Don wants to take us to. Deuteronomy chapter 4, look at it, verses 15 through 19. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 15, where it says, Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no matter of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Herod on the midst of the fire. lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of a male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flighteth in the air, the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, and the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, And when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the hosts of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole of heaven."

So we see again, God is spirit. He's not any of those things that we see listed here. All those things that you see listed, our Lord says, take ye therefore good heed. Heed, in other words, beware unto yourselves.

Let's go to another one, shall we? Over to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. In Psalm 139, we read this in verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Another one, if you would, over to Isaiah 60. Keep going to the right. I love the way Don has put these in order for us so we don't have to go back and forth. I know I mentioned that last week. Look at verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 60. We're speaking about the spirituality, the characteristic of God as being spiritual, and spiritual alone, not in the body. Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen.

In Ezekiel 37 verse 14, we read these, and shall put my spirit in you. This is God speaking to the people through the prophet Ezekiel. And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in my own land, when ye shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it.

God is not wanting. She was expressing, she was sharing with me that a man was speaking about himself and then he said something that God was wanting. I just, I stopped her and I said, run! Run from him! And this is another one of those verses, Jamie, that show us that God's not wanting for anything.

So, let's continue on. Go to the book of Joel. Now, Joel is one of the small ones. If you just keep going to the right, you come to Hosea. And Joel is the book right after Hosea. And look at chapter 2. We're speaking about the spirituality, the characteristic of God as a spiritual matter, as a spiritual one. He's not just a spirit. He is Spirit. He has no body or parts like we do. He is pure, underived, eternal Spirit.

Look here at Joel chapter 2 verses 28-29. Joel chapter 2 verses 28-29. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

" I'm going to jump to the New Testament now. Look at John chapter 4. Go all the way over to John chapter 4. You can't get no more plainer than this. John 4, verse 24, God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Now, I want to stop with that for just a moment. Think about that. Think about that. How must we worship our God? What is He telling us here? He's telling us that we must, not maybe, that we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Well, if we know the truth is that there's nothing good in this body, then our worship that we commit in this body, even coming to church on a Sunday, is not what he's talking about, is it? He's talking about what's in our hearts.

Mike? Absolutely. That's what the spirit, that's where our spirit is, it's in the heart. Remember, we were spiritually dead until the Lord came and gave us life. That's what quicken means, given, made alive. Until He came and gave us life, we were spiritually dead, we had no spirit. So when we worship God, it's the worship that's in our heart. It's us calling Him my God. My Lord. He's not a God. He's not the God. He's my God to me. Do you understand that? Does that settle with you in your heart? That's our worship to our Savior right there.

Let's look at another one, shall we? Go over to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. Talking about the Lord being a spirit. And he can't worship God if you're not worshiping in truth. That's what that man was trying to do to Jamie and all those who were listening. He was trying to convince him that God was wanting. God's not wanting. And you must worship Him in truth.

Acts chapter 17, look at verse 28. Look at verse 28. For in Him we live and move and have our being. See, that's talking about that Spirit. That's talking about the Spirit that dwells within us, the Spirit of Christ. I beg your pardon. Verse 28. For in him we live and move and have our being, and certain also of our own poets have said, for we are also of his offspring.

" One more, if you would. There's several more that we could go look at, but I think one more should be sufficient, don't you? Let's go over to Romans and look at a couple of verses over there. Romans chapter eight, first off. Romans chapter eight. I get to hear that all night, these acorns dropping on the ceiling like that. When they first started, it sounded like a 22 outside. You happen to go through that now, aren't you brother? Yes, you are.

Romans chapter 8, look at verse 9. Romans chapter 8, verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh, I think Don's made a pretty good point here, don't you? I think that as we look at the characteristic of God being in the Spirit, and for us to worship Him, we must worship Him in Spirit and truth, and then here it's talking about worshiping Him not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Let's finish reading that.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of his. Look at another one, go to chapter 15, Romans chapter 15. And then I think we'll move on to the next one after that.

If you want more verses to look at, I'd be happy to give you a copy of this book here, the part that we're studying, and you can look at all. There's like 10 more verses that we could go and look at.

Romans 15 verse 1. Romans 15 verse 1. When we then are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor. Is this right? 15.1. Hmm. I'm not sure how that goes with what we're looking at, but that's OK. Don's a man. He makes mistakes. I've caught some of those before.

So let's go on now to the next one, shall we? The next part of God's characters, the part of his attributes, is the unity. What are the three in one? They are unified, completely three distinct persons, yet one God. Isn't that correct? Isn't that what the Bible teaches us?

So the Lord, Don brings out that that's one of His characters. He's unified. If you read John chapter 17, you'll find that it's all about God's people being unified with Christ and His Father. In fact, let me turn over there and read something for you from that John chapter 17. Don may be already referring it here somewhere. Actually, he does in John 17, verse 3. We'll read that first.

Turn over to John 17. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name. This is verse 25 and 26. And will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Do you see the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and how it includes those that God has loved with an eternal love as well? Folks, we're one with Christ. We've been made, as it says in Ephesians chapter 1, to sit in heavenly places in Christ. Go to Ephesians when you can on your own time. How many times do you see in Ephesians chapter 1 and 2 where it talks about in Christ? In Christ. We're one.

There's a unity there that's part of God's character that we cannot deny. Let's look at some of the ones that Don brought out here. He says, though there are three persons in the Godhead, these three are one, and this triune God is the only God there is.

Look over at Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. Look at verse 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. That's unity like you cannot express in words. Right there. Thou shalt have no other gods. There's no one else to share the throne with. There's no one else to share the glory with. God is God and they shall not share his glory with another.

Look at another one if you would. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Go to the right again, just past Numbers to Deuteronomy chapter 4. I'm getting there. I bet you are too, huh? Look at two verses with me over there. Verse 35 and 39. Unto thee it was shown that thou mightest know that the Lord, he is God. There is none else beside him.

Now look at verse 39. Now therefore, this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord, he is God in heaven above and upon the earth, and beneath there is none else. So we see that he is unified, one God.

I wanna go over to the New Testament now. And again, we have several verses that I can give you to refer to our Lord and the unity of him. But turn over to Galatians chapter three, if you would. And if you look at chapter 3, that's, you know, I got to watch out and make sure I don't do that. Verse 20, look at verse 20. Again, we're talking about the unity of God. Three persons, yet one God, verse 20. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

Go again to the right, Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Look at verse 6. One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and 1 John 5 and then we'll go on to the next one after that.

1 John chapter 5. Now 1 John right after Peter. Just before Revelation and Jude. 1 John chapter 4. Pray for our sister Shelby Fortner. She has finished the book of James. It's gone off to be printed. at the publisher, at Peter Meaney's place, and now she is starting to work on the notes of Don's for the book of 1 John, and she's gonna include 1, 2, and 3 John in one book, so pray for her as she goes through that.

Look here at 1 John 5, verse 7. 1 John 5, verse 7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and here you see the unity that Don is referring to, and these three are united. That's what that word one means, it means united. So God, the three, is united as one, as it gives out throughout the scripture there. So now we wanna look at the next one that Don has listed, and that's the eternity of God, the eternal God.

He writes, God's eternality means that He always is. Folks, there was never a time when there wasn't God. Time is an invention of God for men. There's a time when time will be no more. When the return of Christ comes back, there won't be a need of time anymore. Eternity is without time. They just keep going. Well, God has always been there. And that's what Don's trying to tell us here. God's eternality means that he always is, that he is unlimited by time. He is the eternal I am.

And we see that over in Genesis chapter 21. So go back to Genesis once again, if you would, and turn to chapter 21. Genesis 21. Verse 33, And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God, one who does not answer to time. Aren't you thankful for that? That just blessed my heart. That means He's here with us now just as He was with us before the world began. When He says that I have loved you with an everlasting love, He's loved us before anything was created. I like that part of God's attributes being eternal.

Let's look at another one. I'm going to skip through a few here. Let's go over to Isaiah chapter 44, shall we? Turn over to Isaiah 44. I always like hearing anything in the book of Isaiah. Someone once said it was the book of Romans in the Old Testament. In Isaiah chapter 44, look at verse 6 with me if you would. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first And I am the last, and besides me there is no God.

I'm going to go one more, if you would. Turn all the way over to the book of Revelation this time, chapter 4. And I think we'll call that for this morning and pick that up again next week after that. That'll be part C. Revelation chapter 4. talking about the eternality. Boy, that's a hard word to say for me. Eternal-ality. I don't even know if that's correct. Look over chapter 4, verses 8 through 10. Revelation 4, beginning at verse 8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

And when those beasts give glory, We see the eternality of our Lord in what we've seen so far. And I love the way Don has been bringing us through and showing us each one through Scripture. Not through the opinions of men, not the God who is wanting, but the very One who is God Himself and deserves to be called it because He is. I am.