1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,920 Today, church, I am beginning a new series, a sermon series called The Threefold Cord of God. 2 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:16,640 The Threefold Cord of God. And I'm going to be beginning reading at the book of Ecclesiastes. 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,200 So if you can join me, book of Ecclesiastes chapter four and verse 12. 4 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:29,200 What I'd like to do here today is to preface this message by encouraging, I want to highly 5 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:37,680 encourage everyone to take notes today for the remainder of this series because there's a lot 6 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:43,760 that God has placed in my heart. There's a lot that I want to share with you. And I believe that 7 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:49,280 it's all good stuff and it's all going to strengthen your foundations, gonna strengthen your faith. 8 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:54,080 Amen. And it's gonna help us all grow together. How many of you want to grow in the Lord? Amen. 9 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:59,360 Ecclesiastes chapter four verse 12 says, though one may be overpowered by another, 10 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:10,880 two can withstand him and a threefold chord is not quickly broken. A threefold chord is not 11 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:19,680 quickly broken. Now I'm going to jump to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter four and verse five. 12 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:29,520 Ephesians chapter four and verse five. Ephesians chapter four and verse five and it simply reads 13 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:40,880 one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Someone say, amen. I'm going to begin this series today by 14 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:46,960 teaching on one Lord. Someone say one Lord. I'm going to invite you to pray with me. Father, 15 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:53,280 we come before you today. We thank you for your presence that we feel in this place. We know that 16 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:59,280 our gathering is not in vain. Every time we gather, Lord, you are in our midst. You promise, though. 17 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:05,680 But God, we didn't come just to worship. We didn't come just to lift up holy hands in song and in 18 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,360 praise, but we also came to be edified by the word. And I pray, God, right now that you would 19 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,480 touch the ears and the hearts of all who are in this place today, those that are watching via 20 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,680 live stream, God, I ask God you would anoint their hearing and understanding so that those that have 21 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:27,600 an ear to hear, would hear what the spirit is saying to the church and anoint my lips of clay, 22 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:34,800 God, that I can dissect and expound upon your word. I can strengthen the faith. I can help Lord 23 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:41,680 dissolve any questions, any doubts, Lord, any confusion there may be, Lord, concerning who you 24 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:47,840 are. Lord, I pray that we would leave this place with a fresh revelation, a fresh fire in our hearts, 25 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:55,280 Lord, to serve you. I ask this in Jesus name. Someone say amen. Amen. You may be seated in God's 26 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:02,880 presence. I invite you to bear with me today, church. I have a lot to cover. So I want to begin 27 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:12,000 by sharing that in 1952 during a groundbreaking excavation at the Khuram Caves near the Dead Sea, 28 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:19,920 an extraordinary discovery was made. These caves, long concealed from the eyes of the world, began to 29 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:28,320 unveil secrets of ancient Jewish life that had been buried for millennia. Among the artifacts 30 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:37,840 we covered were sets of telethon. These are small leather boxes that bear the sacred words of the 31 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:47,680 Shema, which was a profound declaration about God. This declaration was so significant that God 32 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:55,600 instructed Israel to teach it diligently to their children, both inside and outside of the home, 33 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:04,320 both in the morning and in the evening. It was so essential to their daily life that God told them 34 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:14,640 to bind it as a sign on their hand and on their heads, as frontlets between their eyes. In fact, 35 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:21,840 even their houses were to bear the declaration of the Shema on their doorposts and gates. 36 00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:29,440 Practicing Jews today still do this when they pray or visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Now 37 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:36,080 one may ask what kind of message would be so important that their whole lives had to resolve 38 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:43,440 or revolve around it, that it had to consume their conversation and adorn their bodies 39 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:56,320 and even mark their houses? What one revelation could serve as the bedrock of their spiritual 40 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:06,000 identity and even ours today? The answer to that question becomes crystal clear when you learn that 41 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:14,000 the beginning of the Shema comes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, which says this, 42 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:26,880 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Amen. Hallelujah. When Israel recited the Shema, 43 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:33,680 they were not merely repeating words. They were affirming their belief in a singular, 44 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:43,360 all-powerful Creator who transcends time and space. They were setting themselves apart 45 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:52,480 as a distinguished people, apart from others, apart as strict monotheists, 46 00:05:53,120 --> 00:06:00,320 distinguishing Jehovah God from all the multitude of deities that were worshiped by surrounding 47 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:09,680 cultures and nations. This declaration, Deuteronomy 6, 4, which was a part of the Shema, set them apart 48 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:18,080 as God's people in the world. And today, church, we do not need to travel to the caves of the Dead Sea. 49 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:26,720 We only have to open up our Bibles and see that there is no other like God. 50 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:37,040 No equal, no rival, no other besides the Lord who deserves all of our worship. I wonder if we can 51 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:47,200 clap our hands right now and just thank God. He is deserving of all our worship. The oneness of God 52 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:56,880 passed down from Judaism to Christianity is the cornerstone of our apostolic faith. Amen. 53 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:07,520 The oneness of God. Yet, there is a popular but false doctrine called the doctrine of the Trinity. 54 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:16,400 It's been accepted by the majority, mainline, mainstream Christian churches, both Protestant 55 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:24,800 and Catholic in the world today. And this doctrine of the Trinity describes God as consisting of three 56 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:34,560 separate and distinct persons. And these supposed three persons are co-equal, co-adept, 57 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:46,000 are co-equal, co-eternal, and coexistent, each supposing to have their own equal power. 58 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:57,280 But does the Bible teach that God is a Trinity? And if not, where does this doctrine 59 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:06,880 originate? And why is it so prevalent in the world? I want to for a few moments today, Church, and 60 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,600 for those that will at some point watch or listen to this message, this is going to be crucial, 61 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:21,360 provide a brief history of the Trinity. Brief history, time periods, key figures, and the triad 62 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:29,440 or tritheistic theory that has evolved over time. I told you I want you to take notes throughout 63 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,600 this message and throughout this series, but this is one that you might want to get your cameras on, 64 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:39,520 take a picture of, so that you can refer back to it later. But the doctrine of the Trinity or the 65 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:50,320 belief in God as three persons will find its trace or its origins traced to the Babylonian and Greek 66 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:59,360 philosophy rather than the Bible. Babylon during the or around the third millennium BC was the 67 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:13,120 originator of a triad deity made up of Nimrod, Tammuz, and Semi or Semi-Rhesus. So it began in 68 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,600 Babylon, and I'm talking about ancient Babylon. You study the history of Babylon, there were 69 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,720 different periods where they came to power. I'm talking about the first period that we read about 70 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:32,640 in Genesis chapter 10. Then in the fifth century BC, Greek philosopher Socrates influenced by 71 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:39,600 spirits that he considered to be demons, this is on his own account, developed his own triad deity 72 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:48,960 consisting of Zeus, Apollo, and Athena. His student Plato, which came along in the same century, 73 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:58,160 expanded on Socrates' triad theory and expanded this, proposing a similar concept which has become 74 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:07,760 to be known as the Platonic Trinity, composed of God, the ideas, and the world spirit. 75 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:17,120 These beliefs persisted through Plato's protege, Aristotle, who then imparted them to Alexander 76 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:24,880 the Great, who was a world conqueror and helped spread these ideas throughout the world. Now I'm 77 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:33,440 giving you a speed train, speed track history lesson here today, but you can if you'd like to 78 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:41,040 dig in to this and discover even more historical details. But the concept of a tritheistic God 79 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:48,000 or Trinity eventually infiltrated the church in the second and third centuries through 80 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:58,080 church figures like Justin, Martyr, Tertullian, and Origen, who began to blend these ideas with 81 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:08,080 Christian teachings. Around 200 AD, Tertullian was the first to assert the tri-personality of God 82 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:15,360 or the tri-unity of the Godhead. He brought it into the church or he solidified its place 83 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:23,680 in Christian teaching. Tertullian was one of the first to use the phrase three persons in reference 84 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:31,360 to God. One of the first to mention the word in Latin Trinitas or Trinity that we would use in 85 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:40,080 English to refer to God. Then in the fourth century, during a special council, the Council of 86 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:47,840 Nicaea, which was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine, established that the father and the 87 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:55,760 son were separate. It was at this summit where these group of scholars and theologians of the time 88 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:02,400 got together and they laid the groundwork for the official doctrine of the Trinity. The 89 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:09,440 Trinitarian doctrine was laid. The groundwork was laid there. And Constantine was not motivated 90 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:16,400 by a pursuit of knowledge of the true God. He was motivated by consolidating power and power. 91 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:23,360 He's given a lot of credit and you can study it out for yourself for converting to Christianity. 92 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:28,240 But when you really look at it, what he was trying to do was consolidate all these religions into one 93 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:36,560 to make himself ruler over everything. And so what he did was he called this council together 94 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:43,920 and they began to lay this groundwork. Then later on in the same century, another council was called 95 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:52,080 the Council of Constantinople. This was summoned by another Roman Emperor. And during this council, 96 00:12:52,080 --> 00:13:01,280 this sort of convocation, and what they did is they separated the father and the son. They picked 97 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:06,240 up where the prior council left off. I guess some of the graphics is cut off. I don't know if you 98 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:12,320 can raise it a little bit, but some of it got cut off. And if we are not able to show the rest of it, 99 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:18,480 then we'll email it out to everybody. How's that sound? Amen? But this other council, they 100 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:26,560 separated. They worked off of the Council of Nicaea and they separated the Holy Ghost from 101 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:33,120 the rest of the Godhead. Between these periods, a key figure in the church named Augustine notably 102 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:39,520 shaped the concept of the Trinity in the Roman Catholic Church. Regarded as the founder of the 103 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:45,840 Christian tradition in the Western world, Augustine was actually heavily influenced by Greek thought. 104 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:53,440 And his view of God was not shaped by the Bible, but it was shaped by the Platonic Trinity, 105 00:13:53,440 --> 00:14:02,000 Plato's version of God, Plato's teaching of God, which emphasized reason and philosophy over direct 106 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:09,200 biblical revelation. And by the time Augustine died, most of the truth of the books of Acts 107 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:15,360 or the book of Acts church had been buried under the teachings of the supposed church fathers. 108 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:23,280 However, these church fathers did not get their understanding from God or the Bible, but they were 109 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:30,880 influenced by the philosophies of Greek men and even Babylonians who lived hundreds or thousands 110 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:38,400 of years before Christ. What I am trying to lay out for you here today is for you to understand 111 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:44,080 that the doctrine of the Trinity, no matter how prevalent, no matter how widely accepted it is in 112 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:51,040 the world, both in the church and by non-religious, not even religious people kind of buy into this idea 113 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:59,760 of this Trinity, finds its roots in pagan philosophy, not in the Word of God. And just 114 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:07,280 because it has been perpetuated and taught and fully accepted and fully taught and fully embraced 115 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:13,200 by Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church in particular, doesn't mean that it is true. 116 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:20,800 Doesn't matter how long something is taught, if it's false at the origin, it's false entirely. 117 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:29,680 Amen somebody, hallelujah. So the Trinity is a distorted view of God that is rooted in pagan 118 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:38,240 philosophy, not the Bible. Because if you read the Bible without the lenses of the supposed church 119 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:46,960 fathers, you will plainly see that God is unmistakably and indivisibly one in His nature. 120 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,240 Amen somebody. Come on, can you clap your hands and give God some praise for that? 121 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,640 Am I talking to a group of believers that believe what I'm saying today? 122 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:08,000 Hallelujah. God is one. He's one. And it is important for us to see where these ideas come from 123 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:16,880 and how they originate and how we got to where we are as a society, as even Christianity as a whole. 124 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:25,600 And I believe more than ever that it's important for us as apostolic believers to firm up our 125 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:30,960 foundation in what it is that we believe because our beliefs are being challenged like never before. 126 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:39,920 Amen somebody. Our beliefs are being challenged and it is up to us and it's up to me as a pastor of 127 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:44,960 this church to make sure that we have an understanding of where these things are rooted and how they find 128 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:54,000 their place in religion today. But let's talk about the oneness of God because I didn't come to teach 129 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:04,640 about the Trinity. Amen. When you survey the scriptures you will find not any reference to 130 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:13,360 the word Trinity. Nowhere in the entire Bible, both in the Old or New Testament, does it speak of God 131 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:21,600 as a Trinity or three persons. Now let me ask you a question today. Let me ask someone that may be 132 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:30,000 watching this today or another day. If the Trinity were so important and such an essential doctrine 133 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:38,800 and essential to understanding the nature of God, my question to pose to you today is why didn't Jesus 134 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:47,040 ever teach about it? Why didn't the apostles teach about it in the first century church of the book 135 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:54,480 of Acts? If the doctrine of the Trinity was essential to understanding who God is, why did 136 00:17:54,480 --> 00:18:02,400 it the apostle Paul who wrote the majority of the New Testament epistles not in one letter, in one 137 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:11,840 verse, or in one chapter ever touch on or explain this doctrine and all of his writings if it was 138 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:20,000 that essential. The New Testament writers had no concept, this is the reason, no concept of the 139 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:25,040 doctrine of the Trinity because the doctrine of the Trinity hadn't been invented yet. 140 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:37,680 So there was no concept for it and they as those who are Jews converted to Christianity 141 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:44,800 came from a strict monotheistic Jewish background and we today as apostolic people, are you hearing 142 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:49,760 me today? I want to have everyone's undivided attention right now. If something is distracting 143 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:58,480 you please put it away unless you're taking notes. We as apostolic people are strict monotheists. 144 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,240 What does that mean? Monotheism comes from two words, 145 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:11,600 manos meaning alone, single or one, and theos meaning God. We are strict monotheists, meaning 146 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:24,160 we are strict believers in one God, one Lord. What's interesting is that even the proponents of the 147 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:31,440 Trinity, if you've ever talked to someone who believes or teaches the Trinity, they would be 148 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:38,240 surprised. They will usually say that they believe in one God. Most of them won't say I believe in 149 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:47,120 three gods. They'll say I believe in one God, one God in three persons. They explain him in plural 150 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:55,600 terms, composed of three parts are persons in the Godhead. I want to say today that you can't have 151 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:06,560 ways. He's either one or he's not. He's either one or he's three, but he can't be both. As apostolic 152 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:15,520 we are strict monotheists, meaning we let the Bible speak for itself. And if you read the Bible 153 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:23,120 and without any other influence and any other uh any other philosophy or any other teaching of man, 154 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:29,200 if you would just read the Bible at its face value, you would walk away. You would come away 155 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:36,080 with a revelation that there is only one God. It is only when the doctrines of men and the inventions 156 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:42,240 of men and the teachings of men begin to influence and contaminate, then that's when people start to 157 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:49,040 believe other things about God. But nowhere in scripture does it say that God is a holy two, 158 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:57,200 that God is a holy three, but there are over 50 verses that call him the holy one. Hallelujah. 159 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:04,000 Isaiah 47 and verse four says, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, 160 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:12,080 the holy one of Israel. Hallelujah. God declared himself in Isaiah 43 and verse 10, 161 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:19,280 before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, 162 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:25,440 and beside me there is no Savior. Somebody give God some praise today. Hallelujah. 163 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:40,400 Some might wonder, what about these titles? What about these titles? Father, Son, Holy Ghost. 164 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:47,600 It's true that God has certain titles, just like we do in our lives. It's true that God is known 165 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:57,360 in different ways, just like we are in our lives. And yet we remain one undivided entity. 166 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:05,760 Titles are titles. They are not separate persons. The title of father 167 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:14,080 the title of father simply refers to God's relationship to man as the father of creation. 168 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:22,880 Amen. As the giver of life. The title of son refers to God in flesh. 169 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:32,640 God became flesh as the son of God, as the son in our redemption. 170 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:41,040 The title of Holy Ghost refers to God in activity, the indwelling spirit of Christ, 171 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:53,280 the comforter, the seal, the earnest of our heavenly inheritance. These titles describe 172 00:22:53,280 --> 00:23:04,160 three roles of God. They describe three manifestations of God, three ways that God is known, 173 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:13,600 three ways that God has revealed himself to man. But these are titles. They are not separate 174 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:20,320 persons in a Godhead. They are not separate centers of consciousness within a Godhead. 175 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:28,320 They are simply roles, ways in which God has revealed himself, ways in which God has made 176 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:36,640 himself known to people. The word of God clearly states in 1 John chapter five and verse seven, 177 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:43,600 this is a very powerful and important verse today. For there are three that bear record in heaven, 178 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:51,280 that bear record in heaven, the father, the word, which is the son, the word made flesh, 179 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:59,840 and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Someone say they're one. Come on, say it again. 180 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:10,960 They're one. God is not one in three. God is not one with three distinct persons or personalities. 181 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:17,600 God is not one with three different characters and three different modes of operation or three 182 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:25,680 different, you know, mindsets. God is one, but has made himself known in three manifestations. 183 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:31,600 For instance, I today am one person. Hello, my name is Jacob. Nice to meet you. 184 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:40,240 Jacob is my name. That's the name my parents gave me. Amen. That's my name. That's me. 185 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:50,240 But I am known in different ways, depending on the setting that I am in. Amen. I am still Jacob, 186 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:59,520 but I am also father. Why? Because I have children. They better never call me Jacob. 187 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:08,800 I want them to call me father or dad, even better. But when I am relating to my wife, 188 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:16,000 she is my wife. I am her husband, and I don't want her calling me father, 189 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:21,440 but she can refer to me as her husband. 190 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:28,080 And I don't want her calling me father, but she can refer to me as her husband. 191 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:37,440 When I'm here or when I am functioning my role as a pastor, you may not call me Jacob. You may 192 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,080 not call me husband or father, but you may call me pastor. Why? Because that is the role 193 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:53,600 that you know me by in this environment. But I am still the same person. I am not different people. 194 00:25:53,600 --> 00:26:04,000 I don't have split personalities. God doesn't have split personalities. God is one. And we come to 195 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,360 know Him as the Father through creation and the Giver of all things, because that's what a father 196 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:14,880 does. A father blesses and gives. Amen? Giver of life, Giver of blessing. We come to know Him 197 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:21,040 as the Son when we are born again, because it's through His blood and through the work that He 198 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:29,040 accomplished for us on the cross that we become divine partakers of salvation. Amen. Thank God 199 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:36,240 that He became a Son and He dwelt among us. Amen. And we know Him again through the infilling of the 200 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:44,640 Holy Ghost, when we speak with other tongues and the Spirit of God takes residence in us. 201 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:54,080 But let it be known today that He's still the same God. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. God doesn't 202 00:26:54,080 --> 00:27:00,640 change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Somebody give the Lord some praise 203 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:15,600 this afternoon. This is so important to us, so vital to our doctrine, so vital to who we are 204 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:25,520 as oneness people, Jesus name people, apostolic people. And we have got to make the revelation, 205 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:32,160 the preaching and the teaching of the oneness of God front and center like never before. Front and 206 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:37,360 center like never before, because this is the doctrine that the devil wants to cheat us of. 207 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:48,960 This is the thing that the enemy wants to rob us from or dilute or confuse. But here again, we see 208 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:54,720 there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and John 1, 1 tells us that 209 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,440 that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. And in verse 14, it says, and the Word 210 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:06,400 was made flesh and dwelt among us. So the Word is Jesus and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. 211 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:16,400 They're all one. They're all one. And Jesus is God incarnate. 212 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:23,520 Most apostolic I talked to do not, many of them who have grown up in church all their life, 213 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:31,440 probably heard messages, probably heard teachings, still do not have a solid understanding of 214 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:36,400 Christology, which is the study of Christ, and therefore struggle to explain 215 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:47,520 and therefore struggle to explain or defend the doctrine of the oneness. The fallacy of the Trinity 216 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:59,360 and the true doctrine of the oneness is fully realized in Christ. Jesus is the incarnation 217 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:09,440 of the one true God. Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 218 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:21,280 2, 9, for any him dwells all someone say all come on, say it again, say all all the fullness 219 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:33,520 of the Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ dwells all of the character, the attributes, the qualities, 220 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:43,520 the personality of God are all wrapped up in the man Christ Jesus. All the fullness means 221 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:57,920 that Jesus was fully God and fully man 100% God and 100% man that in Christ dwells all of God's 222 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:08,240 nature. He is the full expression, the full embodiment, the full personification of God Almighty. 223 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:17,280 Hallelujah. To put it another way, the one and only God of the Old Testament that the saints of 224 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:24,640 old in the Old Testament, the Hebrews, the Jews worship is that same God who manifested himself 225 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:31,120 in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. And it's the same God that we worship here today in this 226 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:40,240 church. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, Jesus is not Jehovah Jr. He is not the second person of the 227 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:49,520 Godhead. He is not a clone of the God, the father. He is God himself. Jesus said, I am my father, 228 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:57,440 I won. Hallelujah. Somebody give the Lord some praise today. Let me give you some more Bible. 229 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:04,000 I'm just going to be a few more moments. Jesus is God. Thomas, when he confessed Jesus and worship, 230 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:12,000 he said, my Lord and my God. Hallelujah. Romans chapter five and chapter nine in verse five, 231 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:23,440 Christ came who is over all the eternally blessed God. Colleges 1 15. He is the image of the 232 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:33,760 invisible God. Second Corinthians chapter five and verse 19. God was in Christ reconciling the world 233 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:42,960 to himself. First Timothy two and verse five. It says for there is one God and one mediator 234 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:51,520 between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Somebody give him some praise today. Hallelujah. 235 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:58,480 I get excited when I think about this. I get excited when I think about the goodness of God 236 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:05,680 and the oneness of God. It really lights a fire in my spirit because I'm thankful that I belong 237 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:12,000 to a body of people. I'm thankful that I was brought into this thing. I'm thankful that I'm 238 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:22,560 not confused, but I've got a clear understanding that the Lord is one and his name is Jesus. 239 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:28,560 First, Timothy chapter three and verse 16. And without controversy, great is the mystery of 240 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:37,280 godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit seen by angels, 241 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:43,440 priests among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory. 242 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:52,320 How many of you know his name today? Titus chapter two and verse 13. Looking 243 00:32:53,200 --> 00:33:02,080 for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. 244 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:09,680 The great message of the gospel is not that God sent his son to do his job for him, 245 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:16,480 but that God came himself, that he who is rich became poor, that through his poverty, 246 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:23,760 those who are poor might become rich. Oh, that he who is divine put on humanity 247 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:30,880 so that us who are humanity can be partakers of the divine. That is the message of God. 248 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:38,240 How many of you are thankful for the gospel? That is the message of the gospel is that he is 249 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:48,560 Emmanuel, God with us. And we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace 250 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:55,120 and truth. This is what we have come to see today. This is what we have come to get a hold of today. 251 00:33:55,120 --> 00:34:04,640 He became a man that we might lay aside the man and put on the Holy Ghost and make it to heaven. 252 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,720 Somebody say amen today. Come on, somebody say amen today. 253 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:15,760 We live in a generation where people don't get too excited about oneness preaching anymore, 254 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:23,280 and that saddens me. We only want to hear about my miracle that's coming. 255 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:28,080 We only want to hear, come on now, we only want to hear my blessings on the way. 256 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:33,680 We only want to hear, you know, you know, God deal with my haters and all that. 257 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:39,760 We won't, we only want to hear messages of healing and all that. But can I tell you that none of 258 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:45,760 those things are going to hold you? Hey, yeah, can I drag out a witness out there? Can I get an amen 259 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:50,000 out here? Those things are not going to hold you. You know what's going to hold you? Doctrine's 260 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:56,720 going to hold you. But doctrine's not fancy anymore. 261 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,080 And yet that's the very thing the enemy is using 262 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:09,200 to confuse people. I'm going to say something, I'm going on record right now. 263 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:20,720 You will never catch me attending a Trinitarian church. Unless it's for a wedding or a funeral, 264 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:27,120 I don't belong there, and neither do you. 265 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:36,960 You got quiet. What business do oneness people have, even flirting with? 266 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:44,640 Oh, but they have, but there's miracles over there, but there's healing. Many will say in that day, 267 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,960 did we not cast out devils in your name? Did we not heal the sick in your name? And he will say, 268 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:57,520 depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. 269 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,480 Maybe this is too old school for some of you, but it's what we need to hear. 270 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,800 Somebody said, well, why does any of this matter? Can't we just say, 271 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,120 pastor, can we just say it's all the same? 272 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:17,920 Does this matter? Can I just attend that church, even though they're Trinitarians, even though they're 273 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,040 baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, even though they do, 274 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:29,600 but as long as I know what I believe, can I go there? Really. It's funny, you wouldn't say that 275 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:38,720 about anything else in life. Can I just go, I love the music program there, I love the music 276 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:45,520 program there, I love the, you know, they've got a world-class puppet ministry, and I'd like my kid 277 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,880 to be there. You know what, start a puppet ministry here at City Light, 278 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:56,000 but don't sell your soul for some false doctrine. 279 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,520 I'm talking as a pastor right now. Can't we just say it's all the same? 280 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:12,720 No, because doctrine affects your whole life. It affects your salvation. Why? Because there's only 281 00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:19,280 one name that can save you. There's only one name. You be careful who you listen to. 282 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:27,680 You need to go through your podcast and your, 283 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:34,560 hmm, I'm gonna get in trouble now, it's all right. Go through your YouTube channels. 284 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:40,000 Who have you been listening to? This generation is very weak, 285 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:48,160 very weak in the doctrine, and we wonder why. Listen, it's not just the pastor, it's all of our 286 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,160 jobs. Parents, hello. 287 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:56,160 Gotta teach it to our children. We gotta draw hard lines in the sand. 288 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:06,480 And this is who we are. We are apostolic. Woo, Jesus. Woo, God. We are holy, we are one name. 289 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,320 Pentecostal, apostolic people. 290 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:18,000 Woo, God. We are holy, we are one name. Pentecostal, apostolic people. 291 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:27,280 Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in the oneness of God, will determine and affect 292 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:32,480 the salvation of you and your children. Why? Because neither is there any other name. There's 293 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:41,120 no other name under heaven. Given among men, where my we must be saved. There's only one name. 294 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,520 And as we move along in the next few weeks, we're gonna see how 295 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:55,680 everything is founded on this, the oneness of God. It affects how we live, 296 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:07,680 our lifestyle, the standards of our life. It affects how we baptize. We don't baptize. Oh, 297 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,680 we'll just, we'll just baptize in all the names. We'll cover all the bases. You know what I mean? 298 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:15,680 Like the name of the father, son, holy spirit, who Paul preached, who preached in the name of Jesus. 299 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:24,000 Who preached in the name of Jesus. No, no, no. Baptizing in the name of Jesus is not about checking 300 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:33,840 off a box on a list. No, it is the only name. Believing in one Lord also determines your victory 301 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:42,880 over the devil. As the Bible says in James 2 19, as I finish, you believe that there is one God. 302 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:50,560 You do well. How many of you want to do well? I said, how many of you want to do well? 303 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:56,320 If you want to do well, the first thing you want to do to do well, you got to believe in one God. 304 00:39:56,320 --> 00:40:08,960 Amen. He said, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. You know that the demons 305 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:20,400 and the devils are oneness. Even the devils of hell are oneness. They believe that there is only 306 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:27,600 one God. And that's why they're terrified of him because God is not divided among himself. 307 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:34,880 He is one. And so the oneness of God is not only our doctrine, it's our deliverance. 308 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:41,840 Shh. Would you stand with me today? Hallelujah. I came to preach this into your heart. I came to 309 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:50,240 teach this. I came to do what God assigned me to do today. As we begin this series, the threefold 310 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:55,920 court of God, we're going to be looking as we did today as one Lord, next week, one faith, the week 311 00:40:55,920 --> 00:41:03,440 after that, one baptism. And we're going to continue to see the oneness of God manifesting 312 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:09,760 the oneness of God taking its front and center place. We've got to defend this doctrine church. 313 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:15,840 We've got to believe this doctrine. We've got to teach this doctrine and we cannot compromise it. 314 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:23,200 No matter what this is worth fighting for. Oh God, I'm going to shout that. I feel the Holy Ghost 315 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:29,520 right now. This is worth fighting for. I don't want my children to grow up and leave the apostolic 316 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:34,560 church and find some other trinitarian non-denom church and say, well dad, I feel the Holy Ghost 317 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:41,360 over here. It's all the same. I don't know. That's not good enough. I need all of my children. I need 318 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:48,160 my whole family. We got to stay in this thing. We've got to believe it. We've got to internalize it. 319 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:54,960 We've got to cement it in our hearts. And we've got to tell the world about it. We've got to tell 320 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:59,440 there are trinitarian friends of yours. You need to start that Bible study with them. I'm in the 321 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:05,360 Holy Ghost right now. You need to start that Bible study. Don't be afraid. You know, study. 322 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:11,520 Get ready. Study up for that Bible study. Get prepared. Get all your verses in line. Get the 323 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:17,120 chart that I showed today and explain to your trinitarian friends and co-workers where their 324 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:23,520 doctrine came from because I'll tell you 99.9% of them don't even know themselves where it came. 325 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:28,560 They think it's in the Bible somewhere. But you get out your Bible, you Holy Ghost-filled tongue 326 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:34,640 talking apostolic young woman or young man of God, brother, sister, you get your Bible out and you 327 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:41,440 explain the scriptures to them and you show them just like Philip did with the eunuch explaining 328 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:49,040 from Isaiah. Show them that God is one and Riel, my eye-filled depth, there's a Holy Ghost revival. 329 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:55,520 There's a one this revival that God's going to bring, but he's looking at us.