1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Thank you, John. Now would you like to stand for the message, please? You don't want to? 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:17,600 All right, I will. We appreciate John's ministry these last two Sundays. And filling in, Dick 3 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:24,920 Edstrom has been on choir tour with the Northwestern College Choir, I think it's called. And they 4 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,760 are singing tonight in Edina. Now don't get up and try to rush over there. It's already 5 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,440 half over. You've missed it. I didn't want to tell you about it this morning for fear 6 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:41,440 nobody would show up tonight. This evening we're going to talk about another aspect of 7 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:56,160 the nature of our God. We approach these messages with forced humility. There's none of us who 8 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:05,160 is able to perfectly comprehend the infinite God who has revealed himself to us. We are 9 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:12,000 humbled as we understand what we can from the Word about him. Tonight we are looking at 10 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:19,000 that aspect that is often referred to as the Trinity. That may be a poor choice of words. 11 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:28,000 I know it was chosen very sincerely and carefully by men at one point. But the reason that it 12 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,360 may be a poor word, though I doubt that we will change our vocabulary because of this, 13 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:40,360 is that it seems to emphasize the threeness of the person of God. To some people, this 14 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:46,960 implies a polytheism, which we certainly do not believe. It's confusing to some people. 15 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:51,920 Therefore, I've chosen to use the term for our study tonight at least, the Triunity of 16 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:58,920 God. This aspect of God's person is bitterly attacked by cults and non-Christian religions. 17 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:05,920 In reading the attacks of these groups, though, it's interesting that most of them do not 18 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:11,640 really comprehend what the Bible says about God's triunity. They establish a straw man 19 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:18,640 and then attempt to knock him down. This doctrine is also claimed as illogical and unreasonable, 20 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,360 particularly is that true, by the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose base of authority when you 21 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:30,360 come right down to it is reason, more than the Bible or even the writings of some of 22 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,720 their leaders. They believe that something has to be reasonable to man or else it cannot 23 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,440 be true. Then there are those, of course, who brand the doctrine of the Triunity of 24 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:47,440 God as being heathen. We deny that, of course. How would we define this doctrine of the Triunity 25 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:54,240 of God? I want to read you a definition by a great man of God named B. B. Warfield, who 26 00:02:54,240 --> 00:03:00,520 is with the Lord. This is the way he puts it. This is theological language. It's the 27 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:07,520 doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are 28 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:16,920 three eternal and co-equal persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence, 29 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:23,920 that is, in existence. It is the doctrine of three persons but one God, to put it simple. 30 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,480 There are a number of errors in connection with this teaching. There is the error of 31 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:41,480 Tri-Pheism. That teaching says that there are three gods, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 32 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:48,480 We would not claim that to be true. We are accused of teaching that by those who are 33 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:57,240 Jews. There is the error, too, of Unitarianism. Some of you may be familiar with that teaching. 34 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:08,360 Among others of their errors, they deny the deity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit. 35 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:15,360 Then there are a number of modern cults which in some way twist the doctrine of the Trinity, 36 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,240 the Jehovah's Witnesses I have mentioned. By the way, they are nothing new on the scene. 37 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:26,280 They are with that name. They started out with a different name, the Watchtower. They 38 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,440 called themselves Jehovah's Witnesses, I think, back in the 1930s. They have retained that 39 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,960 particular name. They are nothing more than the resurrection of an ancient heresy that 40 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:41,640 was condemned in the early church, which was promoted by one Arius. It is the same heresy 41 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,400 in new clothes. 42 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:49,480 Then there is the teaching of Mormonism. I am coming off tonight sounding kind of negative 43 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,400 like I am attacking others, and I do not mean to sound that way, but I simply want to point 44 00:04:53,400 --> 00:05:00,240 out the difference between some of these groups and what the Bible teaches. The Mormons deny 45 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:06,680 both the deity of Jesus Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. Now, you might not know 46 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:11,560 that because of some of the tricky language that they use, particularly in their slick 47 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:12,720 promotions. 48 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:19,720 Talmage, for example, one of their writers, has this statement, as man is, God once was. 49 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:26,720 That is interesting. As God is, man may be. That is even more interesting. Brigham Young 50 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:38,520 said, how many gods there are, I do not know. There never was a time when there were not 51 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:45,200 gods and worlds. That was Brigham Young. 52 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:50,880 So we have around us today a lot of error and misunderstanding, to be sure, about this 53 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:56,120 doctrine of the tri-unity of God. What does the scripture say? Well, there is no explicit 54 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,920 statement perhaps regarding the tri-unity, at least not explicit enough to satisfy some 55 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:06,360 critics. But the truthfulness of this doctrine can be seen throughout the pages of the Bible. 56 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,420 I thought for the purpose of our looking at it tonight, we would discuss first the unity 57 00:06:11,420 --> 00:06:18,120 of God and then talk about the tri-unity of God, the plural aspect of it. First, the unity 58 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:25,120 of God. We worship one God, not three. And there is no other God but He. Now, this unity 59 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:34,640 of God that we speak about does not mean that all religions worship the same God, but only 60 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:41,160 by different names. It does not mean that. That is the teaching of a group called Bahaism, 61 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:46,880 and they have temples at different places, including one very beautiful one in Chicago. 62 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,120 They simply say that everybody worships the same God, he just has different names among 63 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,240 different people. We deny that to be true. 64 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:02,240 In fact, this kind of a tendency sometimes even creeps into some aspects of evangelicalism. 65 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:09,240 I think if there is any place that error can creep in easily, it is in music. Particularly 66 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:19,680 in this day of the emphasis on beat and contemporariness in music, there is a song, and I think the 67 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:29,840 title of it is One God, which I heard a Christian radio station playing, I think it was in Dallas 68 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:35,320 when I lived there, and I called up a couple of times to complain about it, because the 69 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:42,180 doctrine of that song that they were promoting is absolutely heresy. And yet some Christian 70 00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:46,000 artists somewhere recorded it and they played on the air, as though it is truth, and it 71 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:51,520 is not. It is a lie. The idea of that song is simply that we all worship one God. We 72 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,460 call them different names. That is not what the Bible says. 73 00:07:56,460 --> 00:08:01,920 What does the Bible say about the unity of the Godhead, the oneness of God? We will turn 74 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:07,280 to the New Testament first, then we will go to the Old Testament. 1 Timothy chapter 2, 75 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:14,280 verse 5. I am not going to make a lot of comment on this, just reading through some scriptures 76 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:21,280 basically. To get the context, let's go back to verse 3, where the apostle writes and says, 77 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:35,440 This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a 78 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:40,960 knowledge of the truth. When it says he wants all men to be saved, it doesn't mean that 79 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:47,960 all men will be saved. God has not decreed that all men should be saved. It is his moral 80 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:55,480 will. He wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth. In verse 5, he says, but for 81 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:03,000 rather there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave 82 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:10,000 himself a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time. There is a lot in 83 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,800 those last two verses that we have just read, but one of the things you see clearly is that 84 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:23,800 the Bible says there is one God and consequently there is one mediator between God and men. 85 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:30,800 Now back up to 1 Corinthians 8. We looked at this a number of months ago as we were 86 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:39,880 preaching through 1 Corinthians. In verse 4 of 1 Corinthians it says, So then, about 87 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:46,880 eating food sacrificed to idols. Do you remember this? This is a great chapter. He says, We 88 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:53,880 know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. For 89 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:02,440 even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are 90 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:09,080 many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all 91 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:17,000 things came, and for whom we live. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom 92 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:24,000 all things came, and through whom we live. And again we have the clear statement of scripture 93 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:30,080 about the oneness of God. The apostle here denies that these people who were worshipping 94 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:35,960 idols were worshipping the same God just by a different name. That is not true. 95 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:42,960 Now let's go back to the Old Testament, to Isaiah. We're going to turn to Isaiah 44. 96 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:48,720 You may remember a couple of weeks ago I suggested that for some good devotional reading you 97 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:52,480 could go to Isaiah 40 and read those chapters following that and you'll find your heart 98 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:59,480 blessed and warmed. These are great chapters of Isaiah. In Isaiah 44 in verse 6, this is 99 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:06,480 what the Lord says, Israel's king and redeemer, the Lord Almighty, I am the first and I am 100 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:22,320 the last. Apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him 101 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:29,320 declare and lay out before me. What has happened since I established my ancient people and 102 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:37,880 what is yet to come? Yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be 103 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:43,880 afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there 104 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:50,880 any God besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one. Again, God in his own 105 00:11:53,120 --> 00:12:00,120 words here clearly says through Isaiah there is no God but me. And then I would turn you 106 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:07,120 to one other passage, this one in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Here we have a 107 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:14,120 verse that is very precious to the Jews but no less precious to us. This is the verse 108 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:21,120 that they would use to attack the doctrine of the Trinity. Deuteronomy chapter 6 and 109 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:28,160 verse 4, this is a verse that the Jews repeat over and over again. It is a key verse to 110 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:36,160 theology and we have no problem with this verse. It says in verse 4 of Deuteronomy 6, 111 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:43,160 hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And so we have verse after verse and 112 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:55,000 we have just taken a selection of them, verses which declare the unity of the Godhead. But 113 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:02,200 this unity, this oneness does not exclude the idea of plurality in the persons of the 114 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:09,200 Godhead. Now that's the point I want to make next. The unity of God which we have seen, 115 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:16,960 the Lord is one, does not exclude the idea of plurality within that oneness. As a matter 116 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:27,080 of fact, this very word one in Deuteronomy 6, 4 is a particular Hebrew word. It is a 117 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:34,080 word which means plurality in oneness. If you were going to speak of a cluster of grapes, 118 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:41,080 you would say it is one in this sense. It is a cluster but there are individual pieces 119 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:48,120 to it. There is another Hebrew word that means that it is one in the absolute sense. But 120 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:55,120 never is that word used when describing the oneness of God. Isn't that interesting? We 121 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:04,160 said this morning regarding this matter of inspiration that even the words used are significant 122 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:10,480 and important. And the Holy Spirit when describing the oneness of God always uses in the Old 123 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:17,480 Testament this word one which means one but within that oneness the possibility of many, 124 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:27,520 a plurality within it. We see this very same thought and in fact the same Hebrew word is 125 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:34,520 here in Deuteronomy back in Genesis 2, 24. This is a verse that is usually used at a 126 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:41,520 wedding. It says, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother in the house of 127 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:48,520 God. This is a verse that is usually used at a wedding. It says, For this reason a man 128 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:07,800 will leave his father and mother. Isn't it interesting it says it that way? We always 129 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,680 do it the other way in our weddings. The bride comes down the aisle and she is given away. 130 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:18,400 It seems to me like the groom will be brought down the aisle and be given away. It says, 131 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:25,000 A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become 132 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:32,000 one flesh. That word one there means a unit but the possibility of plurality within the 133 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:39,000 oneness. You see what it means. Two people but one. Turn over to chapter 11 in Genesis. 134 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:50,800 Let me show you another verse where this is seen. Genesis 11 and verse 5. It says here, 135 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:57,800 But the Lord came down to see the city. This was the city of Babel. You are familiar with 136 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,240 that and the story of the tower and so on. The Lord came down to see the city and the 137 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:15,240 tower that the men were building. Verse 6 now of Genesis 11. The Lord said, If as one 138 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:22,240 people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to 139 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:28,600 do will be impossible for them. Come let us go down and confuse their language so they 140 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:35,120 will not understand each other. You see the word one there is used again in verse 6. I 141 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:41,280 think in the King James it says the people are one. God looked upon the whole population, 142 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:47,600 many individuals, and he saw them as one. So there was one plurality within that oneness. 143 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:54,160 The same concept now folks is used of God when it speaks about one God in the Old Testament. 144 00:16:54,160 --> 00:17:01,160 Oneness but within that oneness the possibility of plurality in some sense. This same idea 145 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:09,680 of oneness but more than one being involved is seen in the New Testament too. In the 1st 146 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:16,120 Corinthians 3 it says he that planteth and he that watereth are what? We are one. In 147 00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:23,120 1st Corinthians 12 we are all individuals baptized into one body. John 17 22 Jesus prayed 148 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:32,520 and said that they may be one even as we are one. And so there is the unity but within 149 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:39,520 that unity more than one. So that brings us to talk more specifically about this plurality. 150 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:47,120 How has God revealed himself? Well as one but leaving the door ajar for plurality being 151 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:54,320 involved in some sense. So we come to that aspect of the Godhead that I think I have 152 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:59,920 called plurality on your outline tonight. We also call it the tri-unity of God. Now the 153 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:06,920 Old Testament only intimates this. It is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament but 154 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:13,920 it is implied. Not fully developed but in embryonic form you see that revelation. You 155 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:20,120 may have caught the word I used this morning in the message that the Bible is the progressive 156 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:27,120 disclosure of God. In other words you don't go to one verse in the Bible and find everything 157 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:32,120 about God in that one verse or even in that one book. You have to go throughout the Bible 158 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:38,120 and read what it says because God progressively reveals things including himself. And so in 159 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:43,120 the Old Testament there is the hint of it but it is not explicitly stated until the 160 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:48,120 New Testament. But we are thinking old for the moment. Let me suggest some ways in which 161 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:58,120 the Old Testament intimates a plurality. First in the name Elohim which is the name that 162 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:11,120 God reveals himself by. It is E-L-O-H-I-M. I-M is the plural ending in the Hebrew. It 163 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:18,120 is a term that God uses about himself, a name that God uses about himself, 2570 times in 164 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:27,120 the Old Testament. God chooses to reveal himself by the name Elohim using a plural ending on 165 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:37,120 that name. But whenever it is used it is always with a singular verb. Not good English but 166 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:40,120 if you are trying to communicate the doctrine of the Trinity in the Hebrew that is the way 167 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:48,120 to do it. Use a plurality in the name Elohim and then you use a singular verb with a plurality 168 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:55,120 and the oneness both seen together. Again you see it in plural pronouns. We are here 169 00:19:55,120 --> 00:20:03,120 in Genesis so let us go back again to Genesis chapter 1 and I will show you. In Genesis 170 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:21,120 chapter 1 verse 26 God has completed his creation up to man. Now in verse 26 then God said let 171 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:37,120 us, not let me, but let us, a plural pronoun, make man in our image, in our likeness. Isn't 172 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:42,120 it interesting that when God is talking about this he uses the plural pronoun. It doesn't 173 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:49,120 say two, it doesn't say ten, just plural. So the door is open for plurality. You see 174 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:57,120 this in a number of places. Again in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8, God says who will go 175 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:09,120 for us? Again God uses the plurality in the pronoun. Let's go back to Isaiah a moment, 176 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:15,120 back to those chapters we were looking at a few minutes ago. We are going to look at 177 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:28,120 what I think is the clearest intimation in the whole Old Testament of the Trinity. Isaiah 178 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:47,120 48 and verse 16. Come near me and listen to this. From the first announcement I have not 179 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:52,120 spoken in secret. At the time it happens I am there. Now look at the next sentence. And 180 00:21:52,120 --> 00:22:02,120 now the sovereign Lord has sent me with his Spirit. Now from the light that we have in 181 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:09,120 the New Testament we can go back to that sentence and see that it is the Messiah who is speaking. 182 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:18,120 And he says the sovereign Lord, the Father, hath sent me with his Spirit. Could it be 183 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:24,120 any clearer there? Well if one has only the Old Testament it might be hidden. But with 184 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:28,120 the New Testament flashlight we can go back to the Old Testament and see clearly what 185 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:35,120 is meant here. It is a strong statement I think for the Trinity. He does some other 186 00:22:35,120 --> 00:23:00,120 things here. Go back for example to chapter 42 and verse 11. He says, Let the desert and 187 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:08,120 its towns raise their voices, let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice, let the people 188 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:14,120 of Sila sing for joy, let them shout from the mountaintops, let them give glory to the 189 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:19,120 Lord and proclaim his praise in the islands. Somehow I have written down the wrong reference 190 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:26,120 here, haven't I? Do you see the Trinity in those verses? Neither do I, not even with 191 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:39,120 a New Testament flashlight. 43, I am glad we have a theologian here tonight. 43 verse 192 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:48,120 11 certainly speaks about the uniqueness of God. Is that what you are thinking? Rather 193 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:54,120 than take time to search it out now, would you go over to chapter 61 and let's hope I 194 00:23:54,120 --> 00:24:11,120 didn't write down the wrong reference this time. Isaiah 61. I am not going to even tell 195 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:23,120 you the verse. What's that? A radar. Well I don't have it on tonight, that is for sure. 196 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:32,120 Well I tell you what, we are going to forget that one too. I must have gotten the wrong 197 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:41,120 book down here. Well I tell you what, let's go on to something else. Take my word for 198 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:48,120 it, Isaiah talks about it a lot. I have showed you the clearest one in Isaiah in chapter 199 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:55,120 48. Let me mention one more thing with the Old Testament before we have to move on. In 200 00:24:55,120 --> 00:25:03,120 the Old Testament there are triple expressions that are used. For example, in Isaiah chapter 201 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:11,120 6, the, don't turn there, Isaiah 6 verse 3. I know I have got the right book and the right 202 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:18,120 chapter and the right verse this time. Herb don't sit back there and laugh at me. When 203 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:24,120 the angelic creatures cry out in praise of God's holiness, how many times do they cry 204 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:32,120 out holy? Three times. Holy, holy, holy. You go to the New Testament, Revelation for example 205 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:38,120 in chapter 4 and you see that heavenly scene, again these angelic creatures cry out holy, 206 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:47,120 holy, holy. One more example of a triple expression and then we need to go to the New Testament. 207 00:25:47,120 --> 00:26:06,120 This is in Numbers chapter 6. Numbers chapter 6 verse 24. The Lord says to Moses, you tell 208 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:12,120 Aaron and his sons, of course that's the priesthood, this is how they are supposed to bless the 209 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:19,120 Israelites. Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine 210 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:26,120 upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. 211 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:35,120 So once again we have the triplet expression of the Lord here. So time and again in the 212 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:42,120 Old Testament, except in those verses we looked at in Isaiah, you will find the trinity being 213 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:49,120 intubated, you will find it being implicitly stated but not fully developed admittedly. 214 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:54,120 But when we come to the New Testament I think it's a different matter altogether. I believe 215 00:26:54,120 --> 00:27:03,120 that we do see the trinity again and again revealed expressly without any thought or 216 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:13,120 hesitation about it. For example, the baptism of our Lord. We have God the Son being baptized 217 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:18,120 in the Jordan River, being identified with us as sinners. And as he comes up out of the 218 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:23,120 water there comes down the Holy Spirit from heaven in the form of a dove and lights upon 219 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:30,120 him and then a voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. 220 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:37,120 And so we have God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father speaking from heaven. 221 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:42,120 When the Lord Jesus said that we are to go into all the world and teach the gospel, we're 222 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:48,120 to baptize people, he says that we are to do it in the name of what? The Father and 223 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:55,120 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That's the baptismal formula it is called. And yet 224 00:27:55,120 --> 00:28:03,120 notice, it's not in the names of the Father and Son, in the name singular of the Father 225 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:10,120 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then for one more passage in John chapter 226 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:20,120 14, we see our Lord Jesus here, John 14 and verse 16. He is with his disciples before 227 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:26,120 his crucifixion and he says, I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor 228 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:32,120 to be with you forever. What does he say? I'm going to ask the Father and he's going 229 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:38,120 to give you a counselor or a comforter to be with you. And so again we see the Father, 230 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:44,120 the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the counselor who has come. 231 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:50,120 Now we could go on to talk about the attributes of God and how they are applied equally to 232 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:58,120 the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. We don't have time to talk about that tonight. 233 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:04,120 But the same attributes, the glories of God are applied to them equally. The same works 234 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:10,120 are attributed to them. Each person of the Trinity is said in the Bible to have had a 235 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:18,120 part in the creation of the world, for example. I think the only way that we can explain these 236 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:30,120 scriptures is by understanding the Godhead as one and yet expressing himself in three. 237 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:37,120 There are illustrations that make feeble attempts to try to explain this. I think perhaps one 238 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:44,120 of the ones that makes the most sense is the nature of man. We are created in the image 239 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:51,120 of God and I believe that that in part includes the fact that we are tripart beings. We are 240 00:29:51,120 --> 00:30:03,120 our body, soul, and spirit. Perhaps it can be seen some ways in nature as well. For example, 241 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:15,120 the rays of the sun are called heat rays. We feel them. And yet they are light rays. On 242 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:24,120 the other hand, these rays contain some chemical aspects to them. And so in the rays that come 243 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:31,120 from the sun, there is heat, light, and chemical reaction. And yet the three work together. 244 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:37,120 It is one light from the sun. And so there are other attempts. An egg, the nature of 245 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,120 an egg. I hate comparing God to an egg. Somehow that just doesn't seem quite right. But I 246 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:48,120 think you get the point that an egg is an egg when there is a shell and there is the 247 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:54,120 white and there is the yolk. That makes an egg an egg. And so throughout nature, and 248 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:03,120 there are other illustrations that we might point out of three being one. Any illustration, 249 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:08,120 any example falls far short of course of trying to explain the infinite God. Now what are 250 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:17,120 some of the implications of this truth? Must one believe this doctrine to be saved? Let's 251 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:25,120 put it this way. I do not believe that one can deny this doctrine and be saved. One cannot 252 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:33,120 deny the doctrine of the triunity of God and be saved. Doesn't mean that we can understand 253 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:41,120 it. Someone has said you try to understand it and you lose your mind. You deny it and 254 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:49,120 you lose your soul. No one can believe in the deity of Jesus Christ unless he believes 255 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:55,120 in some aspect of the triunity of God. You can't believe in the deity and the personality 256 00:31:55,120 --> 00:32:00,120 of the Holy Spirit unless you believe in the triunity of God. And so one cannot deny the 257 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:07,120 doctrine of the triunity of God and be a Christian. One may be ignorant about this doctrine and 258 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:16,120 be saved, but one cannot deny it and be saved. There are of course many questions that people 259 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:22,120 ask about the doctrine. I think one of the most interesting is asked very often by the 260 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:29,120 Jehovah's Witnesses. And what they will say is, oh so you believe that the Father is God? 261 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:35,120 Yes. Alright, that's one. You believe that Jesus is God? Is that right? Yes. Well that's 262 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:41,120 two. You believe the Holy Spirit is God? Is that right? Well that's three. One plus one 263 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:49,120 plus one equals three, not one. So you see they approach it from a logical direction. 264 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:54,120 One cannot approach revelation that way because there are some aspects of revelation that 265 00:32:54,120 --> 00:33:00,120 go beyond logic. In answer to that logic, Daniel Webster said, how do you expect to 266 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:06,120 understand heaven's arithmetic? Well I agree with him. There are many unexplainable mysteries 267 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:14,120 in the universe and certainly this aspect of God's being is one of them. Reginald Heber 268 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:22,120 has written the words that we sing often, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. Early 269 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:30,120 in the morning our song shall rise to thee, Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty, God 270 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:38,120 in three persons, Blessed Trinity. It is this doctrine secondly which separates biblical 271 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:44,120 religion from all others. There are some other religions that have triads of gods but none 272 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:52,120 that have what is called the triunity of God. The Athanasian Creed says, so the Father is 273 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:59,120 God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three gods but 274 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:07,120 one God, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. That sounds like a 275 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:13,120 Creed doesn't it? May I close with what I think is a very practical implication of this 276 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:26,120 doctrine? It is this, that among the persons of the Godhead there is a perfect love, a 277 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:35,120 perfect love. God the Father loves God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And you go all 278 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:41,120 through the Trinity and say the same thing. And it is that kind of love folks, God's love 279 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:50,120 that he wants us to experience and to express. And he has given us that kind of love. It 280 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:57,120 is now shed abroad in our hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The kind of love that 281 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:05,120 perfectly accepts others. The kind of love that submits to others. The kind of love that 282 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:13,120 is always cooperative so that there is never any hint of disunity. That is God's love. 283 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:19,120 It is the love that God has in his own person. God is love. And that is the love he wants 284 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:26,120 us to express toward one another. It is the triune God who has worked out our redemption. 285 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:33,120 In just a moment we are going to observe the Lord's table. As we do that we are remembering 286 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:41,120 what our Lord did for us. But remember that God the Father had a part in this. He planned 287 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:48,120 it. God the Son obviously had a part in it. He purchased it. And the Holy Spirit is the 288 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:56,120 one who applies it to us upon faith. I heard a Scottish preacher who lives in Canada say 289 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:04,120 it this way in his own unique way. The Father thought it. The Son bought it. The Spirit 290 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:11,120 wrought it. The Bible taught it. The devil fought it. But faith brought it and I got 291 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:17,120 it. And you can't say it any better than that, can you? I would like for us to bow 292 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:24,120 together in prayer and then we are going to sing the doxology. Let's pray together. 293 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:32,120 God, as we talk about some aspects of your person like this one tonight, we are left 294 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:40,120 with questions that our finite minds cannot comprehend. That does not discourage us because 295 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:46,120 you are infinite. And we do not expect to fully understand you, but we do worship you. 296 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:52,120 We worship you in your oneness. We worship you as you have revealed yourself in three 297 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:58,120 dimensions—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We bless you and praise you for your work 298 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:07,120 of creation. With gratitude we bow to thank you for your work of redemption in which you, 299 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:12,120 as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, had a part. 300 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:18,120 I pray that you will make our communion service tonight very meaningful to us as we consider 301 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:23,120 what you have done that we might be saved. In Jesus' name, amen.