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[Lec 5:1a] In our former lectures we treated of the being, character,
perfections, and attributes of God.
[Lec 5:1b] What we mean by perfections is, the perfections which
belong to all the attributes of his nature.
[Lec 5:1c] We shall in this lecture speak of the Godhead; we mean the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[Lec 5:2a] There are two personages who constitute the great,
matchless, governing, and supreme power over all things - by whom all
things were created and made that are created and made, whether visible
or invisible;
[Lec 5:2b] whether in heaven, on earth, or in the earth, under the
earth, or throughout the immensity of space.
[Lec 5:2c] They are the Father and the Son: The Father being a
personage of spirit, glory, and power, possessing all perfection and
fullness.
[Lec 5:2d] The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage
of tabernacle, made or fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and
likeness of man - or rather, man was formed after his likeness and in
his image.
[Lec 5:2e] He is also the express image and likeness of the personage
of the Father, possessing all the fullness of the Father, or the same
fullness with the Father, being begotten of him;
[Lec 5:2f] and was ordained from before the foundation of the world
to be a propitiation for the sins of all those who should believe on his
name;
[Lec 5:2g] and is called the Son because of the flesh - and descended
in suffering below that which man can suffer, or in other words,
suffered greater sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful
contradictions than any man can be.
[Lec 5:2h] But notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God and
remained without sin; showing thereby that it is in the power of man to
keep the law and remain also without sin.
[Lec 5:2i] And also, that by him a righteous judgment might come upon
all flesh, and that all who walk not in the law of God, may justly be
condemned by the law, and have no excuse for their sins.
[Lec 5:2j] And he being the Only Begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fullness of the glory
of the Father - possessing the same mind with the Father;
[Lec 5:2k] which Mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the
Father and the Son;
[Lec 5:2L] and these three are one, or in other words, these three
constitute the great, matchless, governing, and supreme power over all
things; by whom all things were created and made, that were created and
made:
[Lec 5:2m] and these three constitute the Godhead and are one: the
Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory,
power, and fullness;
[Lec 5:2n] filling all in all -the Son being filled with the fullness
of the Mind, glory, and power; or in other words the Spirit, glory, and
power of the Father - possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same
kingdom;
[Lec 5:2o] sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image
and likeness of the Father - a Mediator for man - being filled with the
fullness of the Mind of the Father, or in other words, the Spirit of the
Father;
[Lec 5:2p] which Spirit is shed forth upon all who believe on his
name and keep his commandments;
[Lec 5:2q] and all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from
grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ;
[Lec 5:2r] possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same
image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all;
[Lec 5:2s] being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become
one in him, even as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.
[Lec 5:3a] From the foregoing account of the Godhead, which is given
in his revelations, the saints have a sure foundation laid for the
exercise of faith unto life and salvation,
[Lec 5:3b] through the atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ, by
whose blood they have a forgiveness of sins, and also a sure reward laid
up for them in heaven -
[Lec 5:3c] even that of partaking of the fullness of the Father and
the Son, through the Spirit.
[Lec 5:3d] As the Son partakes of the fullness of the Father through
the Spirit, so the saints are, by the same Spirit, to be partakers of
the same fullness, to enjoy the same glory;
[Lec 5:3e] for as the Father and the Son are one, so in like manner
the saints are to be one in them through the love of the Father, the
mediation of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit;
[Lec 5:3f] they are to be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ.
- Question. Of what do the foregoing lectures treat?
Answer. Of the being, perfections, and attributes of the Deity
(Lecture 5:1).
- Q. What are we to understand by the perfections of the Deity?
A. The perfections which belong to his attributes.
- Q. How many personages are there in the Godhead?
A. Two: the Father and the Son (Lecture 5:1).
- Q. How do you prove that there are two personages in the Godhead?
A. a. By the Scriptures: Gen. 1:27 (Inspired Version)†; (also
Lecture 2:6); "And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which
was with me from the beginning, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness; and it was so."
b. Gen. 3:28 (Inspired Version)†, "And I, the Lord God, said
unto mine Only Begotten, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil."
c. John 17:5, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine
own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was" (Lecture 5:2).
- Q. What is the Father?
A. He is a personage of glory and of power (Lecture 5:2).
- Q. How do you prove that the Father is a personage of glory and of
power?
A. a. [First, of glory]†: Isaiah 60:19, "The sun shall be no
more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give
light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory."
b. First Chr. 29:11, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the
power, and the glory."
c. Ps. 29:3, "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God
of glory thundereth."
d. Ps. 79:9, "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of
thy name."
e. Rom. 1:23, "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image made like to corruptible man."
f. Second, of power. 1 Chr. 29:11, "Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory."
g. Jer. 32:17, "Ah Lord God! behold thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is
nothing too hard for thee."
h. Deut. 4:37, "And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he
chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with
his mighty power."
i. Second Samuel 22:33, "God is my strength and power".
j. Job 26, commencing with the 7th verse, to the end of the chapter,
k. "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and
hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his
thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
l. "He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his
cloud upon it.
m. "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and
night come to an end.
n. "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his
reproof.
o. "He divideth the sea with his power, and by his
understanding he smiteth through the proud.
p. "By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand has
formed the crooked serpent.
q. "Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion
is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can
understand?"
- Q. What is the Son?
A. First, he is a personage of tabernacle (Lecture 5 2).
- Q. How do you prove it?
A. a. John 14:9-11, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath
seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the
Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but
the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me."
b. Second, and being a personage of tabernacle, was made or
fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and likeness of man
(Lecture 5:2).
c. Phil. 2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
d. Heb. 2:14,16, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.
. . . For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he
took on him the seed of Abraham."
e. Third, he is also in the likeness of the personage of the Father
(Lecture 5:2).
f. Heb. 1:1-3, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person."
g. Again, Phil. 2:5-6, "Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God."
- Q. Was it by the Father and the Son that all things were created
and made, that were created and made?
A. a. It was. Col. 1:15-17, "Who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is
before all things, and by him all things consist."
b. Gen. 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth."
c. Heb. 1:2, "[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds."
- Q. Does he possess the fullness of the Father?
A. a. He does. Col. 1:19; 2:9, "For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. . . . For in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily."
b. Eph. 1:23, "Which is his [Christ's] body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all."
- Q. Why was he called the Son?
A. a. Because of the flesh. Luke 1:35, "That holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
b. Matt. 3:16-17, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto
him, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
- Q. Was he ordained of the Father, from before the foundation of
the world, to be a propitiation for the sins of all those who should
believe on his name?
A. a. He was. First Peter, 1:18-20, "Forasmuch as ye know that
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."
b. Rev. 13:8, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him [the beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
c. First Cor. 2:7, "But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory."
- Q. Do the Father and the Son possess the same mind?
A. a. They do. John 5:30, "I [Christ] can of mine own self do
nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me."
b. John 6:38, "For I [Christ] came down from heaven, not to do
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."
c. John 10:30, "I [Christ] and my Father are one."
- Q. What is this mind?
A. a. The Holy Spirit. John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me
[Christ]."
b. Gal. 4:6, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts."
- Q. Do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitute the Godhead?
A. They do (Lecture 5:2). Let the student commit this paragraph to
memory.
- Q. Does the believer in Christ Jesus, through the gift of the
Spirit, become one with the Father and the Son, as the Father and
the Son are one?
A. They do. John 17:20-21, "Neither pray I for these (the
apostles) alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me."
- Q. Does the foregoing account of the Godhead lay a sure foundation
for the exercise of faith in him unto life and salvation?
A. It does.
- Q. How do you prove it?
A. By the third paragraph of this lecture. Let the student commit
this also.
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