Thank you, John. Now would you like to stand for the message, please? You don't want to?
All right, I will. We appreciate John's ministry these last two Sundays. And filling in, Dick
Edstrom has been on choir tour with the Northwestern College Choir, I think it's called. And they
are singing tonight in Edina. Now don't get up and try to rush over there. It's already
half over. You've missed it. I didn't want to tell you about it this morning for fear
nobody would show up tonight. This evening we're going to talk about another aspect of
the nature of our God. We approach these messages with forced humility. There's none of us who
is able to perfectly comprehend the infinite God who has revealed himself to us. We are
humbled as we understand what we can from the Word about him. Tonight we are looking at
that aspect that is often referred to as the Trinity. That may be a poor choice of words.
I know it was chosen very sincerely and carefully by men at one point. But the reason that it
may be a poor word, though I doubt that we will change our vocabulary because of this,
is that it seems to emphasize the threeness of the person of God. To some people, this
implies a polytheism, which we certainly do not believe. It's confusing to some people.
Therefore, I've chosen to use the term for our study tonight at least, the Triunity of
God. This aspect of God's person is bitterly attacked by cults and non-Christian religions.
In reading the attacks of these groups, though, it's interesting that most of them do not
really comprehend what the Bible says about God's triunity. They establish a straw man
and then attempt to knock him down. This doctrine is also claimed as illogical and unreasonable,
particularly is that true, by the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose base of authority when you
come right down to it is reason, more than the Bible or even the writings of some of
their leaders. They believe that something has to be reasonable to man or else it cannot
be true. Then there are those, of course, who brand the doctrine of the Triunity of
God as being heathen. We deny that, of course. How would we define this doctrine of the Triunity
of God? I want to read you a definition by a great man of God named B. B. Warfield, who
is with the Lord. This is the way he puts it. This is theological language. It's the
doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are
three eternal and co-equal persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence,
that is, in existence. It is the doctrine of three persons but one God, to put it simple.
There are a number of errors in connection with this teaching. There is the error of
Tri-Pheism. That teaching says that there are three gods, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We would not claim that to be true. We are accused of teaching that by those who are
Jews. There is the error, too, of Unitarianism. Some of you may be familiar with that teaching.
Among others of their errors, they deny the deity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit.
Then there are a number of modern cults which in some way twist the doctrine of the Trinity,
the Jehovah's Witnesses I have mentioned. By the way, they are nothing new on the scene.
They are with that name. They started out with a different name, the Watchtower. They
called themselves Jehovah's Witnesses, I think, back in the 1930s. They have retained that
particular name. They are nothing more than the resurrection of an ancient heresy that
was condemned in the early church, which was promoted by one Arius. It is the same heresy
in new clothes.
Then there is the teaching of Mormonism. I am coming off tonight sounding kind of negative
like I am attacking others, and I do not mean to sound that way, but I simply want to point
out the difference between some of these groups and what the Bible teaches. The Mormons deny
both the deity of Jesus Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. Now, you might not know
that because of some of the tricky language that they use, particularly in their slick
promotions.
Talmage, for example, one of their writers, has this statement, as man is, God once was.
That is interesting. As God is, man may be. That is even more interesting. Brigham Young
said, how many gods there are, I do not know. There never was a time when there were not
gods and worlds. That was Brigham Young.
So we have around us today a lot of error and misunderstanding, to be sure, about this
doctrine of the tri-unity of God. What does the scripture say? Well, there is no explicit
statement perhaps regarding the tri-unity, at least not explicit enough to satisfy some
critics. But the truthfulness of this doctrine can be seen throughout the pages of the Bible.
I thought for the purpose of our looking at it tonight, we would discuss first the unity
of God and then talk about the tri-unity of God, the plural aspect of it. First, the unity
of God. We worship one God, not three. And there is no other God but He. Now, this unity
of God that we speak about does not mean that all religions worship the same God, but only
by different names. It does not mean that. That is the teaching of a group called Bahaism,
and they have temples at different places, including one very beautiful one in Chicago.
They simply say that everybody worships the same God, he just has different names among
different people. We deny that to be true.
In fact, this kind of a tendency sometimes even creeps into some aspects of evangelicalism.
I think if there is any place that error can creep in easily, it is in music. Particularly
in this day of the emphasis on beat and contemporariness in music, there is a song, and I think the
title of it is One God, which I heard a Christian radio station playing, I think it was in Dallas
when I lived there, and I called up a couple of times to complain about it, because the
doctrine of that song that they were promoting is absolutely heresy. And yet some Christian
artists somewhere recorded it and they played on the air, as though it is truth, and it
is not. It is a lie. The idea of that song is simply that we all worship one God. We
call them different names. That is not what the Bible says.
What does the Bible say about the unity of the Godhead, the oneness of God? We will turn
to the New Testament first, then we will go to the Old Testament. 1 Timothy chapter 2,
verse 5. I am not going to make a lot of comment on this, just reading through some scriptures
basically. To get the context, let's go back to verse 3, where the apostle writes and says,
This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the truth. When it says he wants all men to be saved, it doesn't mean that
all men will be saved. God has not decreed that all men should be saved. It is his moral
will. He wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth. In verse 5, he says, but for
rather there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time. There is a lot in
those last two verses that we have just read, but one of the things you see clearly is that
the Bible says there is one God and consequently there is one mediator between God and men.
Now back up to 1 Corinthians 8. We looked at this a number of months ago as we were
preaching through 1 Corinthians. In verse 4 of 1 Corinthians it says, So then, about
eating food sacrificed to idols. Do you remember this? This is a great chapter. He says, We
know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. For
even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are
many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all
things came, and for whom we live. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom
all things came, and through whom we live. And again we have the clear statement of scripture
about the oneness of God. The apostle here denies that these people who were worshipping
idols were worshipping the same God just by a different name. That is not true.
Now let's go back to the Old Testament, to Isaiah. We're going to turn to Isaiah 44.
You may remember a couple of weeks ago I suggested that for some good devotional reading you
could go to Isaiah 40 and read those chapters following that and you'll find your heart
blessed and warmed. These are great chapters of Isaiah. In Isaiah 44 in verse 6, this is
what the Lord says, Israel's king and redeemer, the Lord Almighty, I am the first and I am
the last. Apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him
declare and lay out before me. What has happened since I established my ancient people and
what is yet to come? Yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be
afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there
any God besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one. Again, God in his own
words here clearly says through Isaiah there is no God but me. And then I would turn you
to one other passage, this one in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Here we have a
verse that is very precious to the Jews but no less precious to us. This is the verse
that they would use to attack the doctrine of the Trinity. Deuteronomy chapter 6 and
verse 4, this is a verse that the Jews repeat over and over again. It is a key verse to
theology and we have no problem with this verse. It says in verse 4 of Deuteronomy 6,
hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And so we have verse after verse and
we have just taken a selection of them, verses which declare the unity of the Godhead. But
this unity, this oneness does not exclude the idea of plurality in the persons of the
Godhead. Now that's the point I want to make next. The unity of God which we have seen,
the Lord is one, does not exclude the idea of plurality within that oneness. As a matter
of fact, this very word one in Deuteronomy 6, 4 is a particular Hebrew word. It is a
word which means plurality in oneness. If you were going to speak of a cluster of grapes,
you would say it is one in this sense. It is a cluster but there are individual pieces
to it. There is another Hebrew word that means that it is one in the absolute sense. But
never is that word used when describing the oneness of God. Isn't that interesting? We
said this morning regarding this matter of inspiration that even the words used are significant
and important. And the Holy Spirit when describing the oneness of God always uses in the Old
Testament this word one which means one but within that oneness the possibility of many,
a plurality within it. We see this very same thought and in fact the same Hebrew word is
here in Deuteronomy back in Genesis 2, 24. This is a verse that is usually used at a
wedding. It says, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother in the house of
God. This is a verse that is usually used at a wedding. It says, For this reason a man
will leave his father and mother. Isn't it interesting it says it that way? We always
do it the other way in our weddings. The bride comes down the aisle and she is given away.
It seems to me like the groom will be brought down the aisle and be given away. It says,
A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become
one flesh. That word one there means a unit but the possibility of plurality within the
oneness. You see what it means. Two people but one. Turn over to chapter 11 in Genesis.
Let me show you another verse where this is seen. Genesis 11 and verse 5. It says here,
But the Lord came down to see the city. This was the city of Babel. You are familiar with
that and the story of the tower and so on. The Lord came down to see the city and the
tower that the men were building. Verse 6 now of Genesis 11. The Lord said, If as one
people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to
do will be impossible for them. Come let us go down and confuse their language so they
will not understand each other. You see the word one there is used again in verse 6. I
think in the King James it says the people are one. God looked upon the whole population,
many individuals, and he saw them as one. So there was one plurality within that oneness.
The same concept now folks is used of God when it speaks about one God in the Old Testament.
Oneness but within that oneness the possibility of plurality in some sense. This same idea
of oneness but more than one being involved is seen in the New Testament too. In the 1st
Corinthians 3 it says he that planteth and he that watereth are what? We are one. In
1st Corinthians 12 we are all individuals baptized into one body. John 17 22 Jesus prayed
and said that they may be one even as we are one. And so there is the unity but within
that unity more than one. So that brings us to talk more specifically about this plurality.
How has God revealed himself? Well as one but leaving the door ajar for plurality being
involved in some sense. So we come to that aspect of the Godhead that I think I have
called plurality on your outline tonight. We also call it the tri-unity of God. Now the
Old Testament only intimates this. It is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament but
it is implied. Not fully developed but in embryonic form you see that revelation. You
may have caught the word I used this morning in the message that the Bible is the progressive
disclosure of God. In other words you don't go to one verse in the Bible and find everything
about God in that one verse or even in that one book. You have to go throughout the Bible
and read what it says because God progressively reveals things including himself. And so in
the Old Testament there is the hint of it but it is not explicitly stated until the
New Testament. But we are thinking old for the moment. Let me suggest some ways in which
the Old Testament intimates a plurality. First in the name Elohim which is the name that
God reveals himself by. It is E-L-O-H-I-M. I-M is the plural ending in the Hebrew. It
is a term that God uses about himself, a name that God uses about himself, 2570 times in
the Old Testament. God chooses to reveal himself by the name Elohim using a plural ending on
that name. But whenever it is used it is always with a singular verb. Not good English but
if you are trying to communicate the doctrine of the Trinity in the Hebrew that is the way
to do it. Use a plurality in the name Elohim and then you use a singular verb with a plurality
and the oneness both seen together. Again you see it in plural pronouns. We are here
in Genesis so let us go back again to Genesis chapter 1 and I will show you. In Genesis
chapter 1 verse 26 God has completed his creation up to man. Now in verse 26 then God said let
us, not let me, but let us, a plural pronoun, make man in our image, in our likeness. Isn't
it interesting that when God is talking about this he uses the plural pronoun. It doesn't
say two, it doesn't say ten, just plural. So the door is open for plurality. You see
this in a number of places. Again in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8, God says who will go
for us? Again God uses the plurality in the pronoun. Let's go back to Isaiah a moment,
back to those chapters we were looking at a few minutes ago. We are going to look at
what I think is the clearest intimation in the whole Old Testament of the Trinity. Isaiah
48 and verse 16. Come near me and listen to this. From the first announcement I have not
spoken in secret. At the time it happens I am there. Now look at the next sentence. And
now the sovereign Lord has sent me with his Spirit. Now from the light that we have in
the New Testament we can go back to that sentence and see that it is the Messiah who is speaking.
And he says the sovereign Lord, the Father, hath sent me with his Spirit. Could it be
any clearer there? Well if one has only the Old Testament it might be hidden. But with
the New Testament flashlight we can go back to the Old Testament and see clearly what
is meant here. It is a strong statement I think for the Trinity. He does some other
things here. Go back for example to chapter 42 and verse 11. He says, Let the desert and
its towns raise their voices, let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice, let the people
of Sila sing for joy, let them shout from the mountaintops, let them give glory to the
Lord and proclaim his praise in the islands. Somehow I have written down the wrong reference
here, haven't I? Do you see the Trinity in those verses? Neither do I, not even with
a New Testament flashlight. 43, I am glad we have a theologian here tonight. 43 verse
11 certainly speaks about the uniqueness of God. Is that what you are thinking? Rather
than take time to search it out now, would you go over to chapter 61 and let's hope I
didn't write down the wrong reference this time. Isaiah 61. I am not going to even tell
you the verse. What's that? A radar. Well I don't have it on tonight, that is for sure.
Well I tell you what, we are going to forget that one too. I must have gotten the wrong
book down here. Well I tell you what, let's go on to something else. Take my word for
it, Isaiah talks about it a lot. I have showed you the clearest one in Isaiah in chapter
48. Let me mention one more thing with the Old Testament before we have to move on. In
the Old Testament there are triple expressions that are used. For example, in Isaiah chapter
6, the, don't turn there, Isaiah 6 verse 3. I know I have got the right book and the right
chapter and the right verse this time. Herb don't sit back there and laugh at me. When
the angelic creatures cry out in praise of God's holiness, how many times do they cry
out holy? Three times. Holy, holy, holy. You go to the New Testament, Revelation for example
in chapter 4 and you see that heavenly scene, again these angelic creatures cry out holy,
holy, holy. One more example of a triple expression and then we need to go to the New Testament.
This is in Numbers chapter 6. Numbers chapter 6 verse 24. The Lord says to Moses, you tell
Aaron and his sons, of course that's the priesthood, this is how they are supposed to bless the
Israelites. Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
So once again we have the triplet expression of the Lord here. So time and again in the
Old Testament, except in those verses we looked at in Isaiah, you will find the trinity being
intubated, you will find it being implicitly stated but not fully developed admittedly.
But when we come to the New Testament I think it's a different matter altogether. I believe
that we do see the trinity again and again revealed expressly without any thought or
hesitation about it. For example, the baptism of our Lord. We have God the Son being baptized
in the Jordan River, being identified with us as sinners. And as he comes up out of the
water there comes down the Holy Spirit from heaven in the form of a dove and lights upon
him and then a voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
And so we have God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father speaking from heaven.
When the Lord Jesus said that we are to go into all the world and teach the gospel, we're
to baptize people, he says that we are to do it in the name of what? The Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That's the baptismal formula it is called. And yet
notice, it's not in the names of the Father and Son, in the name singular of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then for one more passage in John chapter
14, we see our Lord Jesus here, John 14 and verse 16. He is with his disciples before
his crucifixion and he says, I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor
to be with you forever. What does he say? I'm going to ask the Father and he's going
to give you a counselor or a comforter to be with you. And so again we see the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the counselor who has come.
Now we could go on to talk about the attributes of God and how they are applied equally to
the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. We don't have time to talk about that tonight.
But the same attributes, the glories of God are applied to them equally. The same works
are attributed to them. Each person of the Trinity is said in the Bible to have had a
part in the creation of the world, for example. I think the only way that we can explain these
scriptures is by understanding the Godhead as one and yet expressing himself in three.
There are illustrations that make feeble attempts to try to explain this. I think perhaps one
of the ones that makes the most sense is the nature of man. We are created in the image
of God and I believe that that in part includes the fact that we are tripart beings. We are
our body, soul, and spirit. Perhaps it can be seen some ways in nature as well. For example,
the rays of the sun are called heat rays. We feel them. And yet they are light rays. On
the other hand, these rays contain some chemical aspects to them. And so in the rays that come
from the sun, there is heat, light, and chemical reaction. And yet the three work together.
It is one light from the sun. And so there are other attempts. An egg, the nature of
an egg. I hate comparing God to an egg. Somehow that just doesn't seem quite right. But I
think you get the point that an egg is an egg when there is a shell and there is the
white and there is the yolk. That makes an egg an egg. And so throughout nature, and
there are other illustrations that we might point out of three being one. Any illustration,
any example falls far short of course of trying to explain the infinite God. Now what are
some of the implications of this truth? Must one believe this doctrine to be saved? Let's
put it this way. I do not believe that one can deny this doctrine and be saved. One cannot
deny the doctrine of the triunity of God and be saved. Doesn't mean that we can understand
it. Someone has said you try to understand it and you lose your mind. You deny it and
you lose your soul. No one can believe in the deity of Jesus Christ unless he believes
in some aspect of the triunity of God. You can't believe in the deity and the personality
of the Holy Spirit unless you believe in the triunity of God. And so one cannot deny the
doctrine of the triunity of God and be a Christian. One may be ignorant about this doctrine and
be saved, but one cannot deny it and be saved. There are of course many questions that people
ask about the doctrine. I think one of the most interesting is asked very often by the
Jehovah's Witnesses. And what they will say is, oh so you believe that the Father is God?
Yes. Alright, that's one. You believe that Jesus is God? Is that right? Yes. Well that's
two. You believe the Holy Spirit is God? Is that right? Well that's three. One plus one
plus one equals three, not one. So you see they approach it from a logical direction.
One cannot approach revelation that way because there are some aspects of revelation that
go beyond logic. In answer to that logic, Daniel Webster said, how do you expect to
understand heaven's arithmetic? Well I agree with him. There are many unexplainable mysteries
in the universe and certainly this aspect of God's being is one of them. Reginald Heber
has written the words that we sing often, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. Early
in the morning our song shall rise to thee, Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty, God
in three persons, Blessed Trinity. It is this doctrine secondly which separates biblical
religion from all others. There are some other religions that have triads of gods but none
that have what is called the triunity of God. The Athanasian Creed says, so the Father is
God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three gods but
one God, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. That sounds like a
Creed doesn't it? May I close with what I think is a very practical implication of this
doctrine? It is this, that among the persons of the Godhead there is a perfect love, a
perfect love. God the Father loves God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And you go all
through the Trinity and say the same thing. And it is that kind of love folks, God's love
that he wants us to experience and to express. And he has given us that kind of love. It
is now shed abroad in our hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The kind of love that
perfectly accepts others. The kind of love that submits to others. The kind of love that
is always cooperative so that there is never any hint of disunity. That is God's love.
It is the love that God has in his own person. God is love. And that is the love he wants
us to express toward one another. It is the triune God who has worked out our redemption.
In just a moment we are going to observe the Lord's table. As we do that we are remembering
what our Lord did for us. But remember that God the Father had a part in this. He planned
it. God the Son obviously had a part in it. He purchased it. And the Holy Spirit is the
one who applies it to us upon faith. I heard a Scottish preacher who lives in Canada say
it this way in his own unique way. The Father thought it. The Son bought it. The Spirit
wrought it. The Bible taught it. The devil fought it. But faith brought it and I got
it. And you can't say it any better than that, can you? I would like for us to bow
together in prayer and then we are going to sing the doxology. Let's pray together.
God, as we talk about some aspects of your person like this one tonight, we are left
with questions that our finite minds cannot comprehend. That does not discourage us because
you are infinite. And we do not expect to fully understand you, but we do worship you.
We worship you in your oneness. We worship you as you have revealed yourself in three
dimensions—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We bless you and praise you for your work
of creation. With gratitude we bow to thank you for your work of redemption in which you,
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, had a part.
I pray that you will make our communion service tonight very meaningful to us as we consider
what you have done that we might be saved. In Jesus' name, amen.