WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Well, we come now to the preaching of God's word, 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:08.140 and we're going to do so from 2 Corinthians chapter 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:15.019 13 verse 14. Now. For those of you who are here 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:17.760 this morning or may who you may have tuned in 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.519 online, but you know that this morning's reading 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.739 was quite long. This evening we have a shorter 00:00:23.739 --> 00:00:27.339 reading, but we will be. Still in many other 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:31.559 scriptures. So just one verse tonight 2nd Corinthians 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:35.380 13 14 and as I said, we're talking about the 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:38.600 Trinity and so we'll see this within this passage 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:43.020 Hb Charles said of this passage that it's beautifully 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:48.320 stated Theologically rich and spiritually comprehensive 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:51.899 and surely you will agree and so here this reading 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:56.579 of God's inspired word The grace of the Lord 00:00:56.579 --> 00:01:01.299 Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:08.420 of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The classic 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:11.900 way of describing the Trinity would be to understand 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:15.599 that there are three persons of one substance 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.260 equal in power and glory. You have God the Father, 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:23.500 God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, I 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.219 have heard some preachers and teachers say that 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:29.920 when you preach a sermon, you got to have three 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.900 points. And the reason for the three points is 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:35.219 because of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:38.680 Spirit. And that always made me laugh because 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.700 when you examine the preaching of Jesus or of 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:43.900 Paul or of Peter, they don't have those three 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:48.819 points. Nevertheless, tonight, we will have three 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:51.819 points. based on the Father, the Son, and the 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.000 Holy Spirit. And so tonight, we're looking at 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.819 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love 00:01:56.819 --> 00:02:00.700 of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:02.879 And so let's begin with the grace of the Lord 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.159 Jesus Christ. And the way in which I want to 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:10.580 begin would be to highlight an error, an error 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:14.139 in thinking about the Trinity. And the error, 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:17.439 I've mentioned this before, the error is called 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:21.879 modalism. You may have heard of this. Modalism 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:26.319 was, is a heresy that says God is not three persons 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:30.199 in one, but rather that God is one person who 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.699 changes maybe. You could say hats or masks. He 00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:37.599 performs different jobs and he does so as Father, 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.780 as Son and Holy Spirit, but he's not eternally 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:45.069 these persons. This is. the way that they would 00:02:45.069 --> 00:02:47.530 understand this. A motorist would say, well, 00:02:47.689 --> 00:02:50.550 when God needs to redeem people, he puts on his 00:02:50.550 --> 00:02:53.969 son hat. And when he wants to come at Pentecost, 00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:56.830 he puts on the Holy Spirit hat. And when he creates 00:02:56.830 --> 00:03:00.050 the heavens and the earth, he puts on his creator 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:05.389 hat. Right? On and on and on. To combat this 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:08.150 erroneous and heretical teaching, there was a 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:13.759 North African theologian named Tertullian. Tertullian 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.159 around the year 200 gave us this very helpful 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:20.300 way to think about the Trinity, that the Trinity 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:25.979 is one in essence, three in person. One essence, 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:29.780 three persons. And this makes sense, because 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:32.460 the word Trinity is from the word triune, to 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:36.500 emphasize the three in one. The word can actually 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:39.080 be broken up into two parts. Trinity can be broken 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:43.719 up into tri, three, and unity. One, although 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.599 God has always been triune, there was never a 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.400 point in God's existence. He has always existed, 00:03:50.419 --> 00:03:52.780 but there's never been a point when he was not 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:56.879 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, Tertullian 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:00.919 is credited with giving us the terminology. Now, 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:04.340 to combat this heresy, we look at passages like 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:07.319 the one we're looking at tonight that are clearly 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:12.400 Trinitarian. And we must recognize this, that 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.620 the Trinity is a critical, crucial doctrine. 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:20.019 And yet if you just look at one text here and 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:23.120 one text there, you might find yourself a little 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.019 bit confused or not fully understanding the Trinity. 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.259 The very fact is that the doctrine of the Trinity 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:33.060 is from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. The doctrine 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:35.959 of the Trinity is underneath every other doctrine 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:40.540 of the Bible. And so we do not need to just jump 00:04:40.540 --> 00:04:43.420 around and look for the word Trinity. As many 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:46.040 have mentioned, if you try and look for the English 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:50.379 word Trinity in the Bible, you will not find 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:53.860 it. But you do find the truth of the Trinity 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:57.560 located across all of the pages of Scripture. 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:01.800 And so we ought not read the Bible like a concordance. 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:04.579 A concordance is a useful tool that helps you 00:05:04.579 --> 00:05:09.470 locate doctrines and verses. But I don't know 00:05:09.470 --> 00:05:12.089 anybody who reads the accordance what we need 00:05:12.089 --> 00:05:14.930 to do to develop a fully formed understanding 00:05:14.930 --> 00:05:21.110 of the Trinity to read our Bibles Again looking 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:24.709 at this passage you have all three persons listed 00:05:24.709 --> 00:05:28.110 there But interestingly enough Paul gives this 00:05:28.110 --> 00:05:32.430 benediction that begins with the grace of Christ 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:37.050 Now if you're like me You'd probably think well 00:05:37.370 --> 00:05:40.649 Don't you think Paul should begin with the love 00:05:40.649 --> 00:05:43.129 of God? Shouldn't it start with God? Why does 00:05:43.129 --> 00:05:47.189 he begin with the grace of Jesus Christ? Well, 00:05:47.189 --> 00:05:49.569 this is probably speculation, but I think it 00:05:49.569 --> 00:05:53.569 makes sense that what Paul is doing here is blessing 00:05:53.569 --> 00:05:57.069 the Corinthians with the order of salvation. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:00.439 This is not the order of God's decrees through 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.420 redemptive history, but rather it's a hyper condensed 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:06.399 version of the converted life, the grace of the 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.819 Lord Jesus Christ. It reminds us that not a single 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:13.720 one of us here or anywhere comes to God upon 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:17.620 our own merits. None of us can earn salvation. 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.819 It's completely a gift, isn't it? Well, actually 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:25.720 what we really would earn then would be punishment, 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:29.279 eternal punishment. but for the grace of the 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.740 Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, who lived perfectly 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:37.579 without sin, and he lived for us. He lived for 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:40.600 people who have two big sin problems. Here are 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:46.439 two big sin problems. One, original sin inherited 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:49.800 from Adam, who is our representative head. We 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:54.579 have all fallen in sin along with Adam. And so 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:58.759 none of us starts out with a clean slate. None 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:03.819 of us is neutral. We all are conceived in sin. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.279 Further, though, the second part of our big sin 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.420 problem is that we struggle with our own sins, 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:14.279 our own personal transgressions. The Confession 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:17.839 says we sin daily in thought, word, and deed. 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:21.699 And so what we need is the grace of Jesus Christ 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:25.980 to come and provide us with His righteousness. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.759 You see, the entire Trinity is at work in our 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:36.040 salvation. And the Trinity is grace, but grace 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.779 works through Christ so that those who merit 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:41.339 eternal punishment are given His righteousness 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:45.860 and eternal blessedness. And Paul loves to Benedict 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:49.160 in this way, if I can use that as a verb. Paul 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:52.500 loves to conclude his letters with the grace 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:56.319 of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's there in 1 Thessalonians 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.740 chapter five. It's there in Galatians chapter 00:07:59.740 --> 00:08:02.680 six. It's there in 1 Corinthians 16 and it's 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:07.420 there in Romans 16. Paul loves to speak of the 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:14.379 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's our 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:17.620 good starting point for us. We start with the 00:08:17.620 --> 00:08:20.720 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ before we move 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.699 into the love of God. Because you cannot experience 00:08:24.699 --> 00:08:27.740 the love of God if you've not experienced the 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:31.399 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are regenerated 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.820 at this point, we really experience God's love. 00:08:36.139 --> 00:08:38.940 Now it is true there is such a thing as common 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:41.379 grace, theologians like to talk about common 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:45.200 grace, that the rain falls on the just. and the 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.980 unjust. But the unjust do not experience the 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:51.600 love of being in relationship with God the Father. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:54.919 The unjust do not experience the Father's love. 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.919 As sons and daughters of him, 1 John 3 .1 says 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.019 it the best. See what kind of love the Father 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.840 has given to us that we should be called children 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:10.259 of God. And so we are. The love of God does this. 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.879 Or what about this scripture? And this is love. 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:15.509 not that we have loved God, but that He loved 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:19.669 us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for 00:09:19.669 --> 00:09:22.789 our sins. When He has poured out His love on 00:09:22.789 --> 00:09:26.710 such a child, nothing at all can separate the 00:09:26.710 --> 00:09:29.769 believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 00:09:30.029 --> 00:09:33.350 This is communicated in Romans 8. I was in Romans 00:09:33.350 --> 00:09:36.350 8 this morning. Let's go back there now for one 00:09:36.350 --> 00:09:39.450 of the most glorious pictures of God's love, 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:49.500 Romans 8. I'll read 38 and 39. For I am sure 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:54.519 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.080 rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:01.679 nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:04.759 else in all creation will be able to separate 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:10.120 us from what? The love of God in Christ Jesus 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:16.370 our Lord. Isn't that amazing? You are loved by 00:10:16.370 --> 00:10:20.090 the one true God. You are loved by the God who 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:25.009 created all that is. He pours his love out on 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:28.549 you. All of us have this deep need to be loved, 00:10:28.669 --> 00:10:32.649 right? You are loved by the one who personifies 00:10:32.649 --> 00:10:36.129 love. And God doesn't love you because you are 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:40.490 lovable. God loves you because he is loved. That's 00:10:40.490 --> 00:10:46.139 what 1 John 4 8 says, God is love. And so he 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:52.779 loves you perfectly. So you are saved by Christ. 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:57.879 God pours out his love upon you. And then you 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:01.379 get the incredible result of these things. You 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:06.419 get fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:10.659 Spirit is the glue that binds all of this together. 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:14.309 us together with God and one with another. And 00:11:14.309 --> 00:11:17.789 the Holy Spirit is just as real as the Father 00:11:17.789 --> 00:11:21.269 and the Son. The Holy Spirit is no it. The Holy 00:11:21.269 --> 00:11:25.649 Spirit is a person, equal in power and glory, 00:11:25.710 --> 00:11:28.830 just as there is only one Son who saves by His 00:11:28.830 --> 00:11:32.230 grace and one Father who pours out His Son and 00:11:32.230 --> 00:11:36.029 His Spirit. So there is one Holy Spirit indwelling 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:39.629 in all who believe in Jesus, who are elect in 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:42.929 God. With his indwelling with this fellowship. 00:11:42.929 --> 00:11:45.970 We are united to one another into the entirety 00:11:45.970 --> 00:11:48.850 of the Godhead I don't remember who said it but 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:51.690 but somebody said recently the fellowship with 00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:55.789 the Holy Spirit is fellowship with heaven And 00:11:55.789 --> 00:11:58.409 so you see what the Holy Spirit does he binds 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:06.490 us to God The entire Trinity then is involved 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:09.629 in your salvation such that you don't get what 00:12:09.629 --> 00:12:14.350 you deserve, but you get God, Father, Son, and 00:12:14.350 --> 00:12:18.330 Holy Spirit. And as we highlight the three members 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:21.409 of the Trinity, we must see there's perfect unity 00:12:21.409 --> 00:12:25.669 in the Trinity. This is shown in several scriptures, 00:12:25.669 --> 00:12:29.490 like when Jesus says, if you've seen me, you've 00:12:29.490 --> 00:12:32.370 seen the Father. In other words, you do not have 00:12:32.370 --> 00:12:34.669 the Son without the Father, and you do not have 00:12:34.669 --> 00:12:37.330 the Father without the Son, and it's the same 00:12:37.330 --> 00:12:40.970 for the Spirit. 1 John chapter 4. Again, by this 00:12:40.970 --> 00:12:45.090 we know that we abide in Him and He in us because 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:49.730 He has given us of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit 00:12:49.730 --> 00:12:53.750 seals us into salvation and consequently fellowship 00:12:53.750 --> 00:12:58.529 with God. These things and so many more verses 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:01.409 show us that the Trinity is perfectly united 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:04.129 and that the members of the Trinity do perform 00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:07.669 unique tasks And yet the confession says they 00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:12.149 are co -eternal. So there is no hierarchy Within 00:13:12.149 --> 00:13:15.809 the Godhead Father Son and Holy Spirit are equally 00:13:15.809 --> 00:13:18.950 divine, but not everybody has believed this if 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:21.480 you know your church history you know this has 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.299 been a thing throughout the centuries, especially 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:27.779 going back to the first ecumenical council, Nicaea, 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:35.059 in 325. There was a group of so -called Christians 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:38.820 called Aryans, and they were causing quite a 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:41.320 stir within the church. They denied the divinity 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:44.559 of Jesus, saying he was a lesser god than the 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.769 father. And what the Aryans would do, is that 00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:51.269 they would antagonize the Christians, the Trinitarians, 00:13:51.610 --> 00:13:54.129 and they would do so in song. The Aryans loved 00:13:54.129 --> 00:13:58.990 to make up songs to pastor the Christians, but 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:02.309 the Christians came up with their own song, too. 00:14:02.769 --> 00:14:05.750 And I think you know the song because we sang 00:14:05.750 --> 00:14:10.769 it this morning. The Gloria Patri, glory be to 00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:14.750 the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:18.700 as it was in the beginning. is now and ever shall 00:14:18.700 --> 00:14:24.139 be world without end. Amen. This was the fight 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:27.799 song of the Christians against the Aryans. They 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:31.960 were fighting for the truthfulness of the Trinity 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:35.159 presented in the scriptures. It's their fight 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:37.659 song. And so remember, the next time you sing 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:40.879 that song, just sing it like a fight song. Sing 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:45.320 it with great gusto. Now, sadly, it's not just 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:49.960 that the Trinity was attacked centuries ago, 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:52.740 but the Trinity is still under attack today. 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.960 Groups that call themselves Christians who deny 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:59.080 the Trinity. Unitarians and universalists do 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:02.539 this, as well as some cults. So you see Christian 00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:07.039 theology, Trinitarianism has always been at the 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:08.940 forefront of Christian thought, and there's good 00:15:08.940 --> 00:15:12.799 reason for this. Because Christianity is the 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:16.299 Trinity. Christianity is the Trinity. just as 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:19.940 no other world religion has God taking on flesh 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:23.179 to dwell with people. No other world religion 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:28.299 has the Trinity, the three in one. It's simply 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:31.620 too wonderful and it's too high to conceive on 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:35.860 our own, which is why I think that illustrations 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:40.779 to convey the Trinity always fall short. They 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:43.860 usually fall into heresy. Perhaps you've heard 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.559 of some of the analogies that people have used 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:49.759 to communicate the Trinity. Anyone ever heard 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.860 of the Trinity described like the states of water, 00:15:55.460 --> 00:15:59.120 liquid, solid, and gas? What's wrong with that? 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.519 Well, because the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:05.000 Spirit are always Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.500 They don't morph into other states. They are 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:15.169 all co -eternal. the illustration that uses a 00:16:15.169 --> 00:16:18.789 person that would say, well, I'm a father, I'm 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:21.610 a son, and I'm a husband, and therefore three 00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:24.490 in one. Well, that's just putting on those different 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:29.049 hats. That's just modalism. Or since we just 00:16:29.049 --> 00:16:31.549 had St. Patrick's Day, what about the three -leaf 00:16:31.549 --> 00:16:35.029 clover? Have you heard that one? What's wrong 00:16:35.029 --> 00:16:38.750 with that? Well, it makes God into parts, right? 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.120 But God is not made up of parts. God is made 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.419 up of persons. And so we should believe in the 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:50.559 Trinity not because of some silly illustration. 00:16:51.340 --> 00:16:53.940 And we should believe in the Trinity not just 00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:57.620 because Tertullian, Athanasius, Augustine, Luther, 00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:01.039 Calvin, Owen, B .B. Warfield, Edwards, or anybody 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:03.399 else said it. We should believe in the Trinity 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:07.519 because the Trinity is true. God is three in 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:12.710 one, Father, Son. Holy Spirit. Take our verse 00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:17.670 for this evening. It's the last verse in 2nd 00:17:17.670 --> 00:17:21.170 Corinthians, isn't it? Now this is really interesting, 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:25.670 because if you were to comb through 1st and 2nd 00:17:25.670 --> 00:17:29.509 Corinthians, you will not find a fully formed 00:17:29.509 --> 00:17:33.690 doctrine of the Trinity in those two books. You 00:17:33.690 --> 00:17:37.960 won't. Other doctrines are fully formed within 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:42.599 these two letters of Paul, such as the Lord's 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:44.960 Supper. Paul treats that in 1 Corinthians 11. 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.180 You can really see that, but not so with the 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:52.319 Trinity. And so why does Paul end this letter 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.619 with a Trinitarian statement when he's not been 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:58.759 speaking about the Trinity as much throughout? 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:04.279 I think the reason is this, because it's presupposed. 00:18:05.190 --> 00:18:09.250 It's pre -supposed. The church at Corinth has 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:13.730 its issues. They had a lot of issues. But they 00:18:13.730 --> 00:18:17.410 knew of the triunity of the God, of God. This 00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:20.990 is why he's able to conclude this letter in this 00:18:20.990 --> 00:18:23.569 Trinitarian way. Because they already knew of 00:18:23.569 --> 00:18:27.190 the Trinity. And you'll find that throughout 00:18:27.190 --> 00:18:30.950 the New Testament. That the Trinity is spoken 00:18:30.950 --> 00:18:34.019 of as if people already know about this. They 00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:37.759 already know about this because it's true. They 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:43.319 know, they know that Jesus, at his baptism, had 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:47.039 God say, this is my beloved son in whom I am 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.839 well pleased, and they knew that the Holy Spirit 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:52.500 descended like a dove and rested upon Jesus. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.960 They knew that Jesus sent out his disciples on 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.640 the Great Commission, including the words of 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.400 a Trinitarian baptism. The earliest Christians 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.460 knew of God's triunity, and so my question for 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:11.119 you tonight is do you? Do you know the Father, 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.559 the Son, and the Holy Spirit? This is for you. 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:21.980 Look at the last words of the verse. The last 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:26.980 words in the English are you all. The Trinity 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:33.349 is for you all. the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:35.990 and love of God and the fellowship of the Holy 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:39.470 Spirit be with you all. A blessing upon everyone 00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:43.250 who is in Christ loved by God and indwelt by 00:19:43.250 --> 00:19:46.109 the Holy Spirit. This is a benediction for you 00:19:46.109 --> 00:19:51.849 from the triune God. Now let me not move on from 00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:54.490 this without speaking about what a benediction 00:19:54.490 --> 00:19:57.690 is. We have a benediction in every worship service 00:19:57.690 --> 00:20:00.289 so we should know what it is. A benediction is 00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:03.990 not a prayer, but a benediction is a pronouncement 00:20:03.990 --> 00:20:08.190 of God's blessing, founded in truths by God. 00:20:08.630 --> 00:20:12.009 And this one here is a favorite because it's 00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:15.410 a blessing of the entire Godhead upon believers. 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:19.250 It's a good word placed upon believers. And in 00:20:19.250 --> 00:20:22.089 this case, it's a good word about the entire 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:27.569 Trinity. And so with our remaining time considering 00:20:27.569 --> 00:20:31.970 the Trinity, Let's think for a moment. How can 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:36.230 we further appreciate and know the triune God? 00:20:37.490 --> 00:20:40.269 How can we know him better? It's key to know 00:20:40.269 --> 00:20:42.829 that the Bible is Trinitarian, so just kind of 00:20:42.829 --> 00:20:45.470 three points of application. We need to read 00:20:45.470 --> 00:20:49.509 the Bible Trinitarianly. We need to see Father, 00:20:49.690 --> 00:20:54.109 Son, and Holy Spirit all the way from the beginning 00:20:54.109 --> 00:20:58.079 cover to the end cover. The doctrine of the Trinity 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:02.400 is underneath every other doctrine within Scripture, 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.059 and so we need to read the Bible Trinitarianly. 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:10.559 We also need to pray Trinitarianly, and by that 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:14.079 I mean we need to recognize that all of God, 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:17.220 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are involved in 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:20.940 prayer. We pray to God, but do we not also know 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:25.160 that Jesus lives to intercede for us? Of course 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.309 we do. We also know that the Holy Spirit helps 00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:30.410 our prayers on the way up with those groanings 00:21:30.410 --> 00:21:34.509 too deep for words. And so yes, all of the Godhead 00:21:34.509 --> 00:21:42.230 is involved in prayer. And then lastly, we know 00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:47.589 the triune God as we worship him. We must worship 00:21:47.589 --> 00:21:49.990 trinitarianly. When the first commandment says, 00:21:50.210 --> 00:21:53.410 you shall have no other gods before me, we must 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.779 remember positively. that the one that we worship 00:21:56.779 --> 00:22:01.420 is triune and therefore all of our praise goes 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:04.960 to Father, to Son, and to Holy Spirit.