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God Is Exceedingly Great
God Is Exceedingly Great
God Is Exceedingly Great
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God Is Exceedingly Great

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The idea of God, is the greatest thought that man will ever think. It is a thought that overwhelms, humbles and exalts all who are willing to believe in Him. God is the subject of the first statement in the Bible. In the beginning God An ancient writer observed, This phrase recognizes a Being separate from everything hereafter to be described, and yet sufficient for everything hereafter to be described.
God is truly exceedingly great. He holds the whole world in His hands and yet His greatness allows Him to isolate every individual person on planet earth and love and care for that individual as if there were not another person in the world.
It is the earnest hope of the writer of this book, God is Exceedingly Great, that many readers will become personally acquainted with God and even fall in love with Him.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherWestBow Press
Release dateFeb 7, 2014
ISBN9781490823409
God Is Exceedingly Great
Author

W.H. Elder

William H. Elder is a retired minister living with his wife Mary, in Cave Creek, Arizona. Bill, as his friends know him, spent over forty years in ministry for his church. He served in many capacities, including pastoral, Home and Foreign Missions Director, evangelism, and administration. In his retirement, Bill is busy writing religious manuscripts. One of his books has been published by Teach Services, Ringold, Georgia. Hearts in Harmony is available online. Bill celebrated his ninety-sixth birthday on January 14, 2013.

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    God Is Exceedingly Great - W.H. Elder

    Copyright © 2014 William H. Elder.

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

    All Bible passages quoted in this book are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted.

    WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

    WestBow Press

    A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

    1663 Liberty Drive

    Bloomington, IN 47403

    www.westbowpress.com

    1 (866) 928-1240

    Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

    Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

    Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

    ISBN: 978-1-4908-2339-3 (sc)

    ISBN: 978-1-4908-2341-6 (hc)

    ISBN: 978-1-4908-2340-9 (e)

    Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901153

    WestBow Press rev. date: 02/06/2014

    Contents

    Observations

    Introduction

    1. Great in His Love

    2. Great in His Power

    3. Great in His Revelation

    4. Great in His Oneness

    5. Great in His Humanity

    6. Great in His Openness

    7. Great in His Truth

    8. Great in His Grace

    9. Great in His Justice

    10. Great in His Law

    11. Great in His Miracles

    12. Great in His Rapture

    13. Great in His Millennial Reign

    14. Great in His Rewards

    References

    Acknowledgments

    About the Author

    Observations

    T here were two compelling reasons for the writing of this book. The prime mover was my passion for praising and honoring the Divine Persona who gives me life and breath and all things. For several decades He has been the center and circumference of my entire life. I have preached about the strength and infinity of His love, taught about the amazing quality and quantity of His grace, and written about the greatness of His sovereignty and care. I have found that God is truly exceedingly great.

    As for the second reason, one evening I was watching Larry King as he was interviewing a British journalist and avowed atheist named Christopher Hitchens. Mr. Hitchens had just recently written a book entitled god is not Great, and the subject of the interview was the content of the book. Mr. Hitchens claimed that atheism and Darwin’s theory of evolution had combined to shred religion to the point of reducing it to a non-entity and had emasculated the God of religion. As I listened to the exchange between Larry King and Christopher Hitchens, I decided to read Mr. Hitchens’ book and pen a spiritually religious answer.

    I read the book god is not Great twice and then outlined the chapters in order to get an honest overview of the theme of the book. It wasn’t an easy task to outline the chapters. Mr. Hitchens was a very proficient writer. He was an accomplished wordsmith and I am sure that he was eminent in the journalistic world, but his extensive journalistic work gave him such a plethora of experiences that the theme in several of the chapters of his book was pluralized. Thus, I was forced to choose what I considered to be the dominant topic of each chapter. However, since the main arguments were repeated throughout the book I was able to cover the entire extent of his thesis.

    As I read the book, I developed a vicarious acquaintance with an individual who had adopted a deep passion to destroy religion because of the disillusionment he had suffered from a very superficial study of this vital subject. Nowhere in his book did I find the author dealing with true religion in his arguments. The fraudulent and marginal were always the theme of his discussion. If only he had applied Alexander Pope’s famous quote, A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep or touch not the Pyrrhean Spring, to his study of religion, perhaps his perspective of religion would have been diametrically different.

    I was sorry to hear that Mr. Hitchens passed away as I was writing this book. I wrote an answer to Mr. Hitchens book, chapter by chapter, but the finished product was too negative. So I wrote an entirely new manuscript which answers Mr. Hitchens theories in a very positive manner. You have the finished product in your hands: God is Exceedingly Great.

    Introduction

    O ne of the more controversial topics on the nation’s religious scene is the subject of creation versus evolution. A significant part of this ongoing discussion is the topic of the existence of God. Several years ago, a new book appeared in bookstores across the nation by Christopher Hitchens entitled god is not Great . This book caught the attention of a longtime friend of mine, William Elder, of Banning, California, retired from a lifetime career in pastoral and administrative work. This book is Pastor Elder’s answer to Mr. Hitchens on this very significant topic.

    In fourteen different chapters, Pastor Elder answers the theories of Mr. Hitchens in a very positive manner, and convincingly shares with his readers his own journey of faith. He writes from a lifetime of study of God and His exceedingly great love for every person on planet earth. Pastor Elder has achieved an enviable record of service, first as a young evangelist, then pastor, and then as church administrator. He sometimes reaches back to his boyhood days to make a point, he draws on personal experiences to counteract major arguments found in Hitchens’ book, and the chapters are well illustrated with stories, quotes, or even statements of some of the leading personalities of recent times, such as Albert Einstein.

    There is no doubt in my mind that Pastor Elder has written a convincing book. It will be worth your time and effort as you start turning the pages.

    – Don A Roth

    General Conference Representative

    Loma Linda University

    1

    Great in His Love

    How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

    — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

    A s passengers were boarding the Titanic on its fateful maiden voyage, a lady traveler asked the welcoming steward, Is it true that this ship is unsinkable? His irreverent reply was, Lady, even God Himself couldn’t sink this ship. But it did sink on that cold night in April of 1912, because of its collision with an iceberg. Only 711 of the 2224 people aboard were saved. As I write this book, the last survivor of that tragedy has just died.

    A number of human interest stories have come to us from the survivors of that dreadful night, and perhaps there are many other experiences that have not yet been told. Since the ship was considered unsinkable, very few lifeboats had been provided, and in the confusion that followed the announcement of launching the lifeboats, very few responded. Therefore, some lifeboats were only half full when launched. Only the women and children were to load first.

    A very prominent elderly couple was returning to the United States from an extended trip abroad and had chosen the beautiful and much touted Titanic for their homeward transportation. Now they were in a deadly crisis. The wife’s name was soon called for a place in one of the lifeboats, but the husband would be left behind.

    Without a moment’s hesitation, she grasped her mate’s arm. Dear, we have spent almost fifty years of wedded bliss together, and I do not want to live without you. We will die together. As the band played the last strains of Nearer, My God, to Thee, the two linked their arms together in close embrace, and the waters of the Atlantic Ocean sealed their forever dedication. What a beautiful heart commitment! What a demonstration of love.

    Love is the most powerful and persuasive influence in the universe. It is divine in its nature. It is the first and last word in the Biblical definition of God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). God is love. In these three syllables, all things are compressed. Here is the entire Bible reduced to the smallest verbal scale. But no human mind could possibly grasp the awesome magnitude of this divine phrase in this abbreviated form, so God inspired the Sacred Scriptures to be written in order that the divine-human expressions would aid lost man in his search for and worship of God.

    In the pages of the Holy Bible, we find that love is the acme of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Love is the very essence of God’s nature. Love is what it means to be God. God is exceedingly great in the compass of His love: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Love is always between two persons. Therefore, when Jesus spoke this sublime statement, He wasn’t thinking of the masses of the world’s billions, but rather of each individual soul on planet earth. In His divine foresight, He saw the junkie on Maxwell Street in Chicago, and He loved him and wept for him. He saw the AIDS-infected children in Africa, and He loved each of them and wept for them. He saw the avowed atheist in his office in London, and He loved the irreverent person and wept for him.

    It can be difficult for the human mind to understand the individual aspect of God’s love for His creation. I have walked the streets of many of the larger cities of the world – Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Bogotá, Amsterdam, Bern, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Montreal, and New York City – and when I saw the masses, my faith was stretched almost to the breaking point. How could God know and love each of those seemingly nameless souls? How could He know the exact number of the hairs on each head? It was so difficult for me to grasp the fact that the Holy Spirit was wooing and drawing every person in those huge crowds, but I knew that it was so because Jesus said it was so, and He never lies.

    This aspect of God’s love means that no matter who you are or where you are or where you go, God’s love and care is there, enveloping you and embracing you. You cannot escape the tender tentacles. The Psalmist, David, sang of the omnipresence of God:

    Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me’, even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You. But the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

    —Psalm 139:7–12

    While God is ever present in your life, you can, of your own free will, place yourself outside the consciousness and power and comforts of His love. This is the tragic experience of millions of individuals through the centuries of time.

    I was reminded of such a tragedy once when I was conducting evangelistic meetings in the very first church I was privileged to pastor. The husband of one of the most faithful members of the church was in attendance every night. I knew that he was not a member, but there he was, sitting on the front row at every meeting. I thought surely that he was a candidate for church membership, so I visited him. After a few minutes of getting better acquainted, I mentioned how pleased I was to see him each night. Then I asked the question, Have you considered becoming a member of the church?

    He laughed rather bitterly, and then he told me his story. Pastor, years ago, I had a strong conviction that I should give my heart to the Lord. But at that time, the Christian life didn’t fit into my plans, so I ignored the conviction for a time. The feeling persisted, so I prayed that God would go away and not bother me ever again, and He did. Since that time, I have never had a desire to be a Christian.

    I was shocked, and I was also puzzled. But you have been coming to the meetings every night, and you sit right on the front row. Surely, you must have some interest.

    He laughed again. I like to hear you preach, but I have no interest in becoming a member of your church.

    I left that home with a sad heart and a conviction that I had met a person who had deliberately placed himself outside of the consciousness and power of God’s love.

    Most non-believers would identify with Mr. Spring, who rejected the appeal of God’s Spirit, but others echo the skeptic who said, I am so made that I cannot believe. I can state without any possibility of contradiction that this statement is not true. I have the word of One who cannot lie, that He has placed in the mind of every person born on planet earth a measure of faith. He also pledged that He would draw all men to Him by His Holy Spirit.

    God’s love is infinite. This means that it will be the subject of contemplation for the redeemed throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Its depths will never be realized. There will always be more to learn about God’s love. The apostle Paul writes of the infinite quantity of God’s love: That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17–19).

    One reality that illustrates the unsearchable depths of God’s love for us is the awesome mystery of God becoming a man, living among us, and dying for us. The apostle Paul writes about how much Christ’s gift to us cost Him: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

    Jesus speaks of some of the things that he gave up when He came to earth in the prayer recorded in John 17. He admits that He shared the Father’s glory and possessed the Father’s love from eternity. He enjoyed the adoration and worship of all the angels of heaven and could call them to do His bidding at all times. He was the absolute Owner of everything in the universe by virtue of creation. He was rich in divine perfection, which was His essential property from eternity.

    The apostle Paul described Jesus’ wealth in his letter to the Colossians. He was so rich that in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9), but the Record says that, for your sakes He became poor. Paul wrote to the Philippians, He emptied Himself, (Philippians 2:8). Thus, in giving of Himself totally and completely, Jesus had nothing more to give. His sacrifice was complete.

    In what did Christ’s poverty consist? He could abandon neither His divinity nor His divine perfection. If that would have happened, every created life in the universe would have been destroyed, for in Him was their life. He could not abandon His proprietary right over everything He had made, for all things are His by an indefeasible title. The use of them He may lend, but His own proprietorship in them He could not alienate. Thus His poverty was, in actuality, the fact that He refused to assert His right to the things which He could not abandon. In this respect, Jesus put himself in our position. He made Himself completely dependent on His heavenly Father, and He willed Himself to forget who He was for a time as He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and Man (Luke 2:52).

    It is incumbent upon every man to remember that the utter humiliation of our Lord was the result of His bountiful love for us. He loved us more than His own life, and thus He gave Himself in sacrifice for us. Greater love has no one than to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13).

    During the Vietnam War a little Vietnamese girl was brought to one of our field hospitals. She was badly wounded, and thus needed immediate surgery and a blood transfusion; but the blood bank was depleted. Several of the girl’s friends had gathered outside of the hospital to show their concern for their playmate, and one of the nurses saw an opportunity for a couple of pints of blood. She went out to them and in her best Vietnamese voice; she asked if one of them would give blood for their friend. All but one little boy shook their heads negatively; and after a moment, he raised his hand. The nurse took him in, prepped him and proceeded to draw the blood. When she finished she noticed that he was sobbing, and she asked him why he was crying. When am I going to die? he asked between sobs. The nurse hugged him to her breast. Oh sweetheart, you aren’t going to die! she assured him, but your friend is going to live because of your blood.

    Millions will live eternally as a result of a transfusion of the reddest and purest blood the world has ever known. The love of God is a panacea for the many fears that trouble our hearts. The apostle John assures us that love will cast out fear.There is no fear in love; but perfect love (God) casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 John 4:18).

    As a child and into my youth I was full of fear. I was afraid of black cats, standing ladders, broken mirrors, Friday the Thirteenth, and an ever-burning hell that I was certain existed somewhere in the bowels of the earth. I imagined that the devil was the stoker of the fire, and he had my name on his list of future victims.

    A very silly incident happened one evening when I was just out of my teens that aptly illustrated the depth of my spiritual poverty and ignorance. I was driving a taxi in a midwestern city, and this particular evening was a disaster as far as fares was concerned. It appeared that potential fares were either walking, or riding their bicycles. Finally, I got a call and I was on my way. But as I drove down the street there was a jet-black cat that crossed in front of my car. Immediately many potential tragedies flashed into my mind, so I backed up and drove quickly around the block. But that cat wasn’t about to let me off the hook, for there he was again, running across the street in front of me as if he were late for a date. However, I was determined and desperate. So I backed up again and this time I raced around two blocks. Evidently I either beat him to this point or he had reached his destination, for I didn’t see him anymore that evening. Incidentally my fortunes changed for the better and I

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