Johnson, Terry L.
The Excellencies of God: Exploring and Enjoying His Attributes
God’s attributes is the most practical of subjects, inspiring and shaping the entire Christian life. Contemplating who God is and what He has promised to do can bring great comfort to the most despairing soul. Moreover, it brings immense delight to all those who recognize their chief end as the glory and enjoyment of God. In The Excellencies of God, Terry L. Johnson explores several aspects of the divine character and shows how they play a crucial role in our Christian experience. May God’s mercy and grace, His patience and wisdom, His truth and faithfulness, His spirituality and blessedness prove to be a blessing to all who peruse these pages.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Introduction: The Christian and the Attributes
The Mercy, Grace, and Patience of God
1. The Mercy of God
2. The Grace of God
3. The Patience of God
The Truth and Faithfulness of God
4. The God of Truth
5. Liberating Truth
6. Pursue and Proclaim the Truth
The Blessedness of God
7. The Blessed God
8. Our Blessedness in God
The Fatherhood of God
9. God Our Father
10. Pleasing Our Father
11. Our Father’s Children
12. Our Father’s Care
The Spirituality of God
13. The God Who Is Spirit
14. Serving an Invisible God
15. Spiritual Mindedness
16. Spiritual Worship
17. True Worship
The Wisdom of God
18. God Only Wise
19. Wisdom and Folly
20. Seeking and Submitting to God’s Wisdom
The Excellencies of God Podcast
Author
Terry L. Johnson is the senior minister of the Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia. Terry is the author/compiler of the Trinity Psalter and Leading in Worship, and author of The Identity and Attributes of God, The Case for Traditional Protestantism, Reformed Worship, and the trilogy When Grace Comes Home, When Grace Transforms, and When Grace Comes Alive. He and his wife, Emily, have five children.
Endorsements
“I love this book. It expands the mind and lifts up the heart with the best of topics: the doctrine of God. Just as the Lord both reveals Himself as the I Am and promises “I am with you,” so Dr. Terry Johnson’s book helps us to see both who God is and who He is for us in Christ. So take up and read about the excellencies of your God, dear Christian, but do not just read—meditate, marvel, and worship!” — Joel R. Beeke, president, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan
“Nothing is more needful for a healthy, growing Christian life than a deepening appreciation of God’s excellencies. The triune God is the Christian’s summum bonum. Once again we are indebted to Terry Johnson for providing us with a theologically thoughtful and spiritually elevating exposition of God’s glorious excellencies. Johnson loves to quote the Puritans and does so with great effect. But he quotes them at length because they, perhaps more than Christian thinkers and pastors of any other era, glory in who God is. Johnson writes as a pastor-theologian. He is never abstruse or dull. He is always heart-stirring. The reason for this is obvious—he himself is captivated by the One he is writing about. A must read.” — Ian Hamilton, principal of Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Newcastle, England
“Nothing occupies the human mind or feeds the human soul like meditating on the attributes of God. This new book by Terry Johnson helps us do just that. Dr. Johnson's book is an accessible and informed introduction, but there is nothing dry about it. He is filled with wonder and gratitude, as anyone who writes on this great theme should be. I recommend this book to those who are new to the Christian faith and to those who need a reminder of the attributes of the triune God, who is worthy of all our worship and attention.” — Jonathan Master, president, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
“Just as he did in his outstanding Identity and Attributes of God, Terry Johnson takes us on a sacred tour of God’s character through the Scriptures and the writings of the Puritans. The Excellencies of God is a volume to be treasured by pastors and laypersons. The style is accessible and warm, even as the content is deep and worthy of patient meditation. Once again, Johnson helps us to see that there is nothing more practical for the Christian than the study of the Divine. There is nothing more comforting in our sorrows or humbling to our pride than knowledge of God as He truly is. The Excellencies of God is theology for the church. It is doctrine in service to doxology and devotion. I cannot think of a subject more worthy of the Christian’s attention. This volume has my highest recommendation.” — Todd Pruitt, pastor, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia