THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT GOD IS OMNISCIENT AND OMNIPOTENT,
BUT NOT OMNIPRESENT.
And He [the Son] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, HEB 1:3
Bible texts such as Psalm 139, which are misused to try to show GOD’S omnipresence, actually reveal His omniscience, omnipotence, focus, and attention. Psalm 139 does not teach God’s omnipresence, just as the following verses do not teach that the apostle Paul was omnipresent.
1CO 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
2CO 1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
PHP 1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
COL 2:5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while-in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.
THE GOD OF EVERYWHERE
OR THE GOD OF HEAVEN?
GEN 1:26, 27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
GEN 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
GEN 4:16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
EXO 33:14-15 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
EXO 33:18-23 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
DEU 4:39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below there is no other.
1KI 8:30 "And listen to the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place; hear and forgive.
1KI 8:32 then hear Thou in heaven and act and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
1KI 8:34 then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which Thou didst give to their fathers.
1KI 8:36 then hear Thou in heaven and forgive the sin of Thy servants and of Thy people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Thy land, which Thou hast given Thy people for an inheritance.
1KI 8:39 then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou alone dost know the hearts of all the sons of men,
1KI 8:43 hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
1KI 8:49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1KI 22:19 Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
2CH 6:27 then hear Thou in heaven and forgive the sin of Thy servants and Thy people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.
2CH 6:33 then hear Thou from heaven, from Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
2 CH 30:27 Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
2CH 36:23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!'"
EZR 1:2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
EZR 6:9 "And whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail,
EZR 7:21 "And I, even I King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently,
NEH 2:20 So I answered them and said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem."
NEH 9:27 "Therefore Thou didst deliver them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to Thee in the time of their distress, Thou didst hear from heaven, and according to Thy great compassion Thou didst give them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
JOB 16:19 "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high.
JOB 22:12 "Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!
PSA 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
PSA 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
PSA 119:89 Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.
ECC 5:2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
LAM 3:41 We lift up our heart and hands toward God in heaven;
ISA 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
DAN 2:18 in order that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
DAN 2:19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven;
DAN 2:28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.
DAN 2:44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
DAN 4:37 "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride."
DAN 5:23a but you [Belshazzar] have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven;
MAT 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is inheaven.
MAT 5:45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
MAT 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
MAT 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
MAT 7:11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 10:32 "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 10:33 "But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 12:50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."
MAT 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 18:10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 18:14 "Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
MAT 18:19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 23:9 "And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
MAR 11:25 "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions.
MAR 11:26 "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."
LUK 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased."
JHN 16:5,7 But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
ACT 1:11 and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
ACT 7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
ACT 7:56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
2CO 5:6, 8 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
EPH 6:9 And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven,and there is no partiality with Him.
COL 4:1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.
1TH 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
HEB 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
1PE 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.
1 Peter 3:22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
REV 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
REV 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
REV 11:13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
REV 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
REV 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those whodwell in heaven.
REV 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, . . .
ILLOGICAL THEOLOGY
Lewis Sperry Chafer in Vol. 1, pages 220-221, of his Systematic Theology tries to give us some deep spiritual “arguments” which “abstract reason” (not Biblical reason) advances for the omnipresence of God. The headings, brackets, bold, and italics have been inserted.
THE THREAT OF A “GREATER BEING”. . .
Chafer says, “There are at least three arguments for the divine immensity and omnipresence, which abstract reason advances. (1) The perfection of God demands that He be everywhere present. If some place were void of Him, the human mind could conceive of a greater being who filled all places and thus God would be imperfect to the degree in which He did not answer the idea of immensity.”
. . . OR A “MORE PERFECT BEING”?
“On this important consideration Theologian John Dick writes: ‘The result is, that in our opinion it is better for a being to be in many places than in few, to be in all places than in many. To suppose, therefore, God to exist only in one part of the universe, to be in heaven but not upon earth, to circumscribe his essence within any boundaries however widely extended, would be to conceive of Him as similar to His creatures. [Aren’t we similar, created in His “image and likeness”?] It would be easy to imagine a being still more perfect, for certainly he would be more perfect who was present at the same time in heaven and on earth. This it appears that it is agreeable to reason to ascribe immensity to God.’” (Ibid., p. 99).
ARE GOD'S ATTRIBUTES LIMITED TO HIS PRESENCE?
“(2) The very nature of God requires that He be everywhere present. The exercise of His attributes is not restricted to locality but is ubiquitous, hence, as He is where His attributes are, He is Himself ubiquitous.”
CAN'T GOD CREATE FROM A DISTANCE?
“(3) Reason further contends that, since God used no mechanism or agents in creation and since all came into being at the same time, He was present at the time wherever creation took place.”
IS IT A “MYSTERY” OR IS IT FLAWED REASONING?
Chafer concludes, “It is in no way reasonable for the finite mind to suppose that it can understand the divine mode of omnipresence.”
PAST ERRORS BECOME TODAY'S FALSE DOCTRINES
A good example of past errors is the following list of false doctrines and practices that Augustine (A.D. 354-430) either initiated or authorized. This is only a partial list:
BUT NOT OMNIPRESENT.
And He [the Son] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, HEB 1:3
Bible texts such as Psalm 139, which are misused to try to show GOD’S omnipresence, actually reveal His omniscience, omnipotence, focus, and attention. Psalm 139 does not teach God’s omnipresence, just as the following verses do not teach that the apostle Paul was omnipresent.
1CO 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
2CO 1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
PHP 1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
COL 2:5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while-in person, not in spirit—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.
THE GOD OF EVERYWHERE
OR THE GOD OF HEAVEN?
GEN 1:26, 27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
GEN 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
GEN 4:16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
EXO 33:14-15 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
EXO 33:18-23 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
DEU 4:39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below there is no other.
1KI 8:30 "And listen to the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place; hear and forgive.
1KI 8:32 then hear Thou in heaven and act and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
1KI 8:34 then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which Thou didst give to their fathers.
1KI 8:36 then hear Thou in heaven and forgive the sin of Thy servants and of Thy people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Thy land, which Thou hast given Thy people for an inheritance.
1KI 8:39 then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou alone dost know the hearts of all the sons of men,
1KI 8:43 hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
1KI 8:49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1KI 22:19 Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
2CH 6:27 then hear Thou in heaven and forgive the sin of Thy servants and Thy people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.
2CH 6:33 then hear Thou from heaven, from Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
2 CH 30:27 Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
2CH 36:23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!'"
EZR 1:2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
EZR 6:9 "And whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail,
EZR 7:21 "And I, even I King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently,
NEH 2:20 So I answered them and said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem."
NEH 9:27 "Therefore Thou didst deliver them into the hand of their oppressors who oppressed them, But when they cried to Thee in the time of their distress, Thou didst hear from heaven, and according to Thy great compassion Thou didst give them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.
JOB 16:19 "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high.
JOB 22:12 "Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!
PSA 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
PSA 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
PSA 119:89 Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.
ECC 5:2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.
LAM 3:41 We lift up our heart and hands toward God in heaven;
ISA 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
DAN 2:18 in order that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
DAN 2:19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven;
DAN 2:28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.
DAN 2:44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
DAN 4:37 "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride."
DAN 5:23a but you [Belshazzar] have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven;
MAT 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is inheaven.
MAT 5:45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
MAT 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
MAT 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
MAT 7:11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 10:32 "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 10:33 "But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 12:50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."
MAT 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 18:10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 18:14 "Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
MAT 18:19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
MAT 23:9 "And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
MAR 11:25 "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions.
MAR 11:26 "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."
LUK 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased."
JHN 16:5,7 But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
ACT 1:11 and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
ACT 7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
ACT 7:56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
2CO 5:6, 8 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
EPH 6:9 And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven,and there is no partiality with Him.
COL 4:1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.
1TH 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
HEB 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
1PE 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.
1 Peter 3:22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
REV 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
REV 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
REV 11:13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
REV 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
REV 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those whodwell in heaven.
REV 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, . . .
ILLOGICAL THEOLOGY
Lewis Sperry Chafer in Vol. 1, pages 220-221, of his Systematic Theology tries to give us some deep spiritual “arguments” which “abstract reason” (not Biblical reason) advances for the omnipresence of God. The headings, brackets, bold, and italics have been inserted.
THE THREAT OF A “GREATER BEING”. . .
Chafer says, “There are at least three arguments for the divine immensity and omnipresence, which abstract reason advances. (1) The perfection of God demands that He be everywhere present. If some place were void of Him, the human mind could conceive of a greater being who filled all places and thus God would be imperfect to the degree in which He did not answer the idea of immensity.”
. . . OR A “MORE PERFECT BEING”?
“On this important consideration Theologian John Dick writes: ‘The result is, that in our opinion it is better for a being to be in many places than in few, to be in all places than in many. To suppose, therefore, God to exist only in one part of the universe, to be in heaven but not upon earth, to circumscribe his essence within any boundaries however widely extended, would be to conceive of Him as similar to His creatures. [Aren’t we similar, created in His “image and likeness”?] It would be easy to imagine a being still more perfect, for certainly he would be more perfect who was present at the same time in heaven and on earth. This it appears that it is agreeable to reason to ascribe immensity to God.’” (Ibid., p. 99).
ARE GOD'S ATTRIBUTES LIMITED TO HIS PRESENCE?
“(2) The very nature of God requires that He be everywhere present. The exercise of His attributes is not restricted to locality but is ubiquitous, hence, as He is where His attributes are, He is Himself ubiquitous.”
CAN'T GOD CREATE FROM A DISTANCE?
“(3) Reason further contends that, since God used no mechanism or agents in creation and since all came into being at the same time, He was present at the time wherever creation took place.”
IS IT A “MYSTERY” OR IS IT FLAWED REASONING?
Chafer concludes, “It is in no way reasonable for the finite mind to suppose that it can understand the divine mode of omnipresence.”
PAST ERRORS BECOME TODAY'S FALSE DOCTRINES
A good example of past errors is the following list of false doctrines and practices that Augustine (A.D. 354-430) either initiated or authorized. This is only a partial list:
- that Mary was born and lived her entire life without actual sin (Augustine's On Nature and Grace chapter 42)
- that unbaptized infants are eternally damned (Augustine's On Forgiveness of Sins and Baptism of Infants book 1 chapter 21)
- that sex within marriage is an inherently debased act (Augustine's Enchridion chapters 26,34)
- that war can be holy (Augustine's The City of God book 1 chapter 21)
- there will be no literal millennium (Augustine's The City of God book 20 chapter 7)
- there is no forgiveness of sins outside of the Roman Catholic church (Augustine's Enchiridion chapter 65)
- that there is a purgatory fire (Augustine, The City of God, book 21, chapters 13, 24)
- that the dead can benefit from the sacrifice of the Eucharist (Augustine's Enchiridion chapter 110)
- that it is proper for a Christian state to persecute heretics (Augustine's Donatists chapter 2)
- that many are predestined to hell--[as in Calvinism] (Augustine, Epistle 106)