The Ohio Independent Baptist, July 1964

Fir t John 3: 9 gives us an in ight into the nature of God aying: "Whatsoever i born of God doth not commit in ; for hi eed remaineth in him: and he cannot in, becau e he i born of God.' ' Here we are reminded that the ' eed ' ' of God i a inless nature, one incapable of ining or doing wrong. Perhap it will help us if we re– member that Je u Chri t wa God. Jahn 1: 1, peaking of Him, ay ' 'In the beginning wa the Word and the Word wa with God, and the Word was God." And He Him elf boldly stated in John 10: 30 "I and my Father are one. ' When Je u Christ walked around thi old earth some nineteen hundred year ago, it wa a God manife t in the fie h ( I Tim. 3: 16). He did not in! Not one time iin the 30 odd year of Hi earthly sojourn did He do wrong. Hebrews 4: 15, s,peaki ng of "Je us the Son of God," a He i de cribed in ~he preceding ver e , dogmatically de– clare : ' For we haVte not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in ,all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.' ' Satan gave Him everything he had - he tried every trick, every argu– ment, every appeal - but was de– feated in each oncounter with the Son of God. He ought His downfall through the lu t of the f.lesh , but Jesus •an wered, " It i written , Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God ' ' (Matt. 4:4). The devil tri ed to force Hi ruin through the pride of life, but the <;i nless Son of God r eplied, " It i written again , Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matt. 4:7). Satan sought to con train Him to in through the ]u<; t of the eyes, but once again the holy Lord J e u an– swered, ' 'Get thee hence, Sa tan : for it is wri tten, Thou halt worship the l.. ord thy God, and him onl y shalt thou serve' ' (Matt . 4: 10). Hebrews 7:26 ren1 inds u that H e i ' 'holy, harn1l css, unc.l e t ti ed" and ·'n1adc higher than the heaven ." Je. t1s . aid to Ph1 fjp in Jol1n 14·9, "H a, 1 e I Ileen so lo ng tir11e wi th you, and yet hast thot1 no t known 111e, Pl1ilip? He tha t ha th seen me hath see11 tl1e a tl1er; ar1d how sayes t thc>t1 tl1 n, h w t i . tl1e "a thcr'!" Je u hrist on ar th wc:1s an exac t r11 n i f e tat i o 11 t ( 1 d the a t t1 r and Je us l1ri t va sinless. 8} 1 exa111i11- 1ng tl1e I if o tir I rd J l: Lt hris t " 'e 1 nu\\' tt1at, nc rning ~in : 1<J<I THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST cannot do it! It i impos ible for God the Fait 1 her, God the Son. or God the Holy Spirit to in. Going on, II. It Is Impossible For God To Break His Word! When God ays omething, He means it! Any time you read ome– th ing He has aid in the Bible yot1 can be ure it i o. God cannot break Hi word; it i impo sible for Him to go back on any prom·i e He ha made! We are told in Hebrew 6: 16-20: ' For men verily wear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all trife. Wherein God, will,ing more abundantly to hew unto the heirs of promi e the immut– ·abi lity of his coun el, conf.irmed it by an oath: That by two immutable thing , in 1 which it was impo ~ible for God to lie, we might thave a trong con oliat.ion who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anohor of the oul, both ure and teadfa t, and which entereth into that within the veil ; Wither the fore– runner ,i for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchi edec.' God· wor,d ,to us is based upon two immutable things : Hi promi se and Hi oath! In the promi e we look at the word and see what they ay. In t 1 he oath we look ait who ha m1ade tihe promi e and what he repre ent . When God peak the matter i. ett-led ! One old Puritan preacher re– marked ithat 1 he wa concerned with just two Vhing : F·ir t, 1ha God Spoken? And, econd , what doe God ay? If God has poken ,about any ,natter we need to know exactly what He ha said becau e H,i word ettle.. that ubject for ever! A we are told in the maje tic l 19th P alm : 'F or ever, O Lord , thy word i. ettled in heave n' ' (v . 89). In Matthew 24: 35 Je t1 gu aranteed, "Heaven and earth shall pa away, but my word hall not pa away.,, And Titu I :2 de. crihes God a one who Hcannot li e." F or one t•hing, God cannot lie aboL1t ~a lva tion. The on o f God promi\ed 1n John 5 : 24: •· er1ly. v er ii y, l \ a y tt n l o ou. H c th al heareth n1} word , and hel1e\ 1 ctl1 on hin1 th a t sent 111c, ha th everla, t111g I i f c. and shall not 0111e into conde1111a– tion; l1t1l is pa\">CU fr 111 ucc1 th t i n t () life. " Becata,e t this 1)ro1111',c all who hea r H1:,, Word a11d pt1t t l1cir fai th a11d tr t1s t in H i,11 · ( I) 1 Cl:t:l \'C ..: l cr na J l i f c i In 111 e I i a te I} ( - ) l h c , ne, 1 er ca11 en ter i11t(> a state (lf l;011 - l l r11nn tion ; , rill ( _ ) the ' alreatl} ar passed ,from death unto life. When, in answer to the inner earnest entreaty, "What must I do to be saved?", the Word of God guar– antees, "Believe on the Lord J e u Christ, and thou halt be saved, and thy house" (Act t 6: 30 31 ) .then H e 1ni,st ave all who believe! He can– not break Hi rword. How sweet is the ,as urance which Christ gave in John 6:37 when He saiid, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wi e ca t out." How .rure is tl1at statemen ti Again , God cannot break His word about judgment. All that the Bible reveal regiarding ,the torment of Hell , the endles n,ess of the puni hment, the exceeding wrath to be poured out upon inners becau e of their un– belief and rebellion, will be fulfilled in every detail. God could no ,nore lie ahoi,t Hell than He coi,ld aboi,t H eaven! Oh, how imperative it i that every , inner ha.. ten to Chri t ,and make . ure of an eternal home in Heaven! God must keep Hi Word abou 1 t both alvation and judgment. A a matter of fact. God cannot break any of Hi exceeding great and preciou prom i. e " ( II Pet. l : 4). Promi e relative to ,provi ion uch a~ Philippian 4 : 19 : "But my God hall upply ,all your need according to hi riches in glory by Chri t J e u .' ' Promi e about Hi pre ence, uch a Hebrew 13: 5: "Be content with uch thing a ye have: for He hath aid , I will never leave thee, nor for ake thee ." Pron1i e about pre er- vation , t1ch a John 10 :27-29 : HMy heep hear my voice , and I know them, and they follow me : And I give un,to them eternal life ; and t1hey hall never peri h neither hall any man pluck .then1 out of my hand . My Father, which gav th m me, i greater than a ll ; and no man i able to pluck them out of n1y Father' hand ." Pr mi e guar anteeing tha t the hri t ia n. will n t have to er J r<l - an alone, uch a. P. aim. 23 :4 : ·· ea, though I wa lk. through the val ley f (Continued on page 12) DECATUR FOUNDRY CO INC. Div is ion of J . L. Johnson & Sons Inc. 1700 N. Calhoun St reet Decatur, lll inoi, Manuf actures Annea ling Po t for Malle ble Foundrie JULY, 1964 Page 5