Solomon's Porch October 15, 2005 Portrait of Love God is Love-I John-4: 8 & 16

On our last visit to the Porch we were asked to respond to an article depicting, portraying or delineating the One True Living God. In the article we find some thirty descriptions of Him plus many things attributing to His Character or nature. Each of these qualities are supported by Scripture, well over forty verses in all, including many additional references to Scripture. It seemed so well done that we thought to share it with everyone. And we wondered how many had ever read it before. We received many replies. All, I’m happy to report, were very positive. Most stated that they believed every word of it, some felt they were blessed just reading it. We were blessed by the replies that we received. One from a dear friend in Arizona who pleasantly surprised us by not only knowing exactly what it is, and where it originated, but has a copy of it plus all the Scripture references used to write the article. She knew all about it immediately, hats off to her! One other very resourceful friend in Nevada found it somehow on the Internet. We applaud his perseverance and ingenuity. One young man in company with his lady friend reported that they also found it on the Internet and their comments indicated they thought it could use a little clarification in the area of God being invisible and especially regarding "passion", nice going you two, keep aspiring together as you search God’s word. We hope that looking into this was as pleasant and joyful for all of you as it was for us. Now about the article. It is entitled "The Westminster Confession of Faith" (not Westminister, but Westminster- chiefly British, refers to a monastery or church ) What we read was Chapter II entitled, "Of God, and of the Holy Trinity" This is an extremely lengthy document consisting of thirty three chapters, far too large to be shown here. If you would like to see the entire document, read about it’s formation and history it is found in the back of some church hymnals, especially the Trinity Hymnal used by the Presbyterian Church, or you may simply go to the net using WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. Here you may also see the foot notes referring to all of the well over 40 Scriptures related to each point in the document. This goes back to the years between 1540 and 1647 and on to the 19th century and to modern times. All in all, a bit of early church history, and for us certainly considered a faith builder in our time when positive assurance is so essential to maintaining our spiritual position in the face of the worldliness we see all around us. The history behind this document goes back into some of the very early church history involving the nations of Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland and others. The history of it’s development seems to fully involve the Christian religion and such notables as Calvin and Luther as well as heads of state. The Westminster Assembly was set to work, at first, on a revision of the original Thirty-Nine Articles; but, on October 12, 1643, shortly after the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant, wherein, in order to secure Scottish aid against the king, Parliament had agreed to make the religions of England, Scotland, and Ireland as nearly uniform as possible and to reform religion according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed churches, Parliament directed the Assembly to consider among themselves of such a discipline and government as may be most agreeable to God's holy word. Thereupon the Assembly entered at once upon the work of preparing a Directory of Government, Worship and Discipline. Delayed by much controversy with the Independent members, they did not complete this portion of their work till near the end of 1644. Then they began work upon the Catechisms and Confession of Faith simultaneously. After progress with both, the Assembly resolved to finish the Confession of Faith first and then construct the Catechisms upon its model. December 3, 1646, they, in a body, presented the finished Confession to Parliament. Parliament recommitted the work that Scripture passages might be attached to every part of it. April 29, 1647, they reported it finished with full Scripture proofs of each separate proposition attached thereto. We sincerely hope you enjoyed this. We will be leaving on the 16th of October to visit friends and relatives in Maryland, attending Pauline’s 60th class reunion, getting our fill of Maryland sea food, especially crab cakes, and returning on the 25th. May The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers- 6:24-26. See you back on the Porch in November.