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[Music] [Music] good morning everyone welcome to free grace Baptist Church two announcements before we begin worship this morning first if anyone would like to volunteer to to take over the or to plan the fellowship luncheon for March we need someone to volunteer so if you could do so in contact Leslie Lawson that would be helpful either talk to her or or email her again that's someone to volunteer to head up marches fellowship luncheon secondly just a reminder it is the Lord's Supper this evening so we will be observing that ordinance in the PM service at five o'clock well turn in your Bibles with me then to psalm 32 our call to worship will be a reading of psalm 32 a wonderful song of forgiveness psalm 32 beginning in verse 1 the word of god a psalm of david a contemplation blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit when I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me my vitality was turned into the drought of summer sale ah I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin say law for this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found surely in a flood of Great Waters they shall not come near him you are my hiding place you shall preserve me from trouble you shall surround me with songs of deliverance say law I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go I will guide you with my I do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding which must be harnessed with bit and bridle else they will not come near you many sorrows shall be to the wicked but he who trusts in the Lord mercy shall surround him be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart amen well let's stand as a church and sing together him 89 in the larger Trinity hymnal him 89 [Music] please be seated let's go to our God in prayer Heavenly Father we thank you for this Lord's Day Sabbath and we rejoice in the fact that we can gather together as the saints of Christ in this place to worship our great God Father Son and Holy Spirit and we do pray that you would help us in this again we pray for your Holy Spirit to lift our spirits that we might be brought to that place of worship we pray that you'd help us to worship you in spirit and in truth we might give you honor that we might give you praise we do pray Lord God that this would be the case in this church that this would be the case and the churches in Chilliwack and all your churches around the world Lord on this year Lord's Day that you would cause your saints to worship you our right to worship you in great joy and with great earnest we thank you that we have this opportunity to gather in freedom that we are not hindered by the government that we're not hindered by our own countrymen but that we can come in freely and safely in this place to worship our great God we do and pray that you would help us too to be mindful of this fact that we have this Liberty that we have this joy we do pray that you would cause our hearts to now be lifted in worship to our great God Father Son and spirit and we rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ and we know is we always rehearse that we are not saved by deeds of righteousness which we have done but much rather Lord God according to your mercy you saved us and we sing the praises of Amazing Grace we reflect with great joy upon the fact that you did send forth your son born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those who are under the law we thank you that we have adoption as sons through Jesus Christ our blessed Savior we do pray that you would cause us to rejoice in him we thank you for his work in our place in our stead in our room we thank you that he was obedient to your law at every point in the place of all who believed in his name we thank you that upon Calvary's cross he died a not a death of maybe not a death of perhaps but a substitutionary sacrificial death in the place of all who believe in his name that in that cross death we have the forgiveness of sins we have the we have Redemption we have all those blessed benefits of amazing in victorious grace we thank you for the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of our Savior Jesus Christ we look upon that resurrection on the third day and we see that our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we see that resurrection in a manner of power in a manner of great victory in a manner of divine vindication and we thank you that in his life and in his death and in his resurrection we have our precious gospel we have the fact that that all who believe in his name shall have everlasting life the forgiveness of sins and the the joy of being found in him we do pray Lord God that you would pour out your amazing grace this day in this place and around the world that sinners by your power and for your glory would be made known of the Savior and that they would bend the knee to the king of kings and the Lord of lords do save mightily for your namesake this day and the Lord we do pray that a multitude of newly redeemed tongues would sing the praises of father son and spirit we do pray God that you'd be with those who need prayer for physical things we we think of the many who are afflicted with illness Lord in our mid sickness disease and we do pray that you bless each and every one each and every dear brother and dear sister who are afflicted and strengthen them in body whether they're able to join us this morning or unable Lord we do just pray that you would tend to them that you would heal them that you would help them in the midst of physical affliction and even in the midst of it Lord that you would lift them up in the inner man and cause them to rejoice in you our God and to sing the praises of Christ Jesus the Lord we do pray God that you'd be with those struggling spiritually that you'd lift them up we would ask God that you would return to them the joy of their salvation and Lord caused them to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that for each and every one of us that knowing that we've been saved by grace through faith in Christ alone that you would cause us for your glory sake and for your name sake for the cause of the gospel to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of that gospel we do pray God that you'd be our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who suffer under persecution for the cause of the gospel we do pray that you'd be near to them and help them we pray that you'd comfort them in the midst of their de-stresses and we do pray Lord that you would cause them to rejoice in the midst of their suffering and affliction and that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would cause them to hear the gospel of saving grace and they would be brought from enemies that place of being opposed to the living and true God by your grace they would be brought in to the kingdom of the son of your love that you would save by amazing grace those who are presently your enemies that they might be found among your people singing the praises of Christ we do pray Lord that you'd be with those who govern over us we often lament and grieve as we as we cast our eyes upon the political and the the governments of the world everything that's going on it's those rulers rule not after proper justice and righteousness and we do pray that you would cause them to do so but they would rule a right they would rule according to virtue and we do pray Lord that those who would seek to push wickedness throughout the world we pray that you would cast them down and put those in their place that might rule accordingly we do pray Lord God that unto this and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ would go out throughout all the parts of the earth that more and more might own the Savior and rejoice in our God we do pray then that you'd be with us now in worship we would ask God that you would also be with the Surrey Reformed Baptist Church and worship help us help them to worship you in spirit and in truth and we pray for my kirkpatrick as he preaches we pray that you'd help him in the pulpit to preach well the things of your word and do bless that congregation we do pray that you bless us now in our worship that you be with Pastor Butler as he preaches strengthen him in the pulpit give him all that he needs to preach well the things of your word we do pray that we would hear well Lord that we would take in the preached word that we would that your Saints in this place would be nourished and strengthened that we would be lifted up and encouraged in the things of your revelation to the sons of men that we might rejoice in Christ and that we might seek to grow in the Grace and in the null of Jesus Christ and might that same preaching exercise attended by the spirit beyond to the saving of souls this morning we pray for all who entered in outside of Christ we pray by amazing grace Lord God by the power of the Holy Spirit they would leave this place singing the praises of Jesus Christ do save today Lord my young and old sing the praises of father son and spirit and because it is only possible with you Lord God and not with men might each and every tongue in this place leave this place singing the praises of Christ be with us now might you be honored and glorified and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord amen let's stand and sing again this time we're going to sing two seventy one in the same hymnal 271 let's stand and sing as a church [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please be seated can turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke for our New Testament scripture reading the Gospel of Luke Luke 7 beginning in verse 36 Luke 7 beginning in verse 36 once again the word of God then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went to the Pharisees house and sat down to eat and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself saying this man if he were a prophet would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner and jesus answered and said to him Simon I have something to say to you so he said teacher say it there was a certain creditor who had two debtors one owed five hundred denarii I and the other fifty and when they had nothing with which to repay he freely forgave them both tell me therefore which of them will love him more Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said to him you have rightly judged then he turned to the woman and said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water you gave me no water for my feet but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head you gave me no kiss but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in you did not anoint my head with oil but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same loves then he said to her your sins are forgiven and those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves who is this who even forgives sins then he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace amen well let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this your Holy Scriptures we rejoice as we read through the life and times of Jesus Christ our Savior we thank you for the heart that he had for sinners and we rejoice in this example of the Blessed forgiveness that that is found in Jesus Christ the Lord for his mercy for his love for his loving-kindness exercise towards great sinners and we thank you that our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ so died so as to secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and we rejoice in the forgiveness that is found in Jesus Christ and we pray Lord God that you would help us as we continue in worship to sing the praises of so great a God to rejoice in so great a gospel to reflect with great joy on so great a Christ and we pray Lord God that you would save this morning for your glory sake we do pray that you'd help us as we continue now in worship keep us attentive keep us focused and keep us as those who solemnly let joyfully reflect on so great a salvation we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior amen our final hymn before their preaching then if you'll stand with me again is 369 again in the large Trinity hymnal there 369 let's [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28 Matthew 28 as we continue to look at the Great Commission the way Goss Matthew's Gospel ends with a declaration of the universal authority and sovereignty of Jesus Christ and then he defines for his apostles and church what is to be done until he returns again in glory but I do want to begin reading in Matthew 28 at verse 1 now after the Sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb and behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it his countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men at the angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified he is not here for he has risen as he said come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and indeed he is going before you into Galilee there you will see him behold I have told you so they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word and as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying rejoice so they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him then jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me now while they were going behold some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers saying tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept and if this comes to the governor's ears we will appease him and make you secure so they took the money and did as they were in struck dead and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and Jesus came and spoke to them saying all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age amen well let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word we thank you for the Incarnate Word even our Lord Jesus Christ and for his life his death his resurrection how we praise you for what the angel reports in this chapter that the that he that he rose as he said tomb was empty and the women were able to investigate it for themselves the disciples respond in worship there certainly this is the one whom you sent into the world sinners to save how we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation we have in him and how we pray that others would come to know him as Lord and Savior we pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us now that he would guide us and lead us and help us as we look to your truth we pray that he would convict sinners and show them their own place before a holy God and show them their need their absolute need for redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ we pray now that you would fill us with the spirit forgive us for our sins and our transgressions and cleanse us and that precious fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and we pray these things now through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we have as I said been spending some time here on the Great Commission not only because I don't want Matthew's Gospel to end but also because it is so instructive concerning the mission of the focus of the church and as we'll notice this morning it's also instructive concerning who our God is now just to kind of rehearse for you where we've been we have seen their meeting in Galilee in verses 16 and 17 and then we have seen thus far up to or in the Great Commission up to verse 19 the Lord Jesus Christ declares his absolute authority he has universal sovereignty he makes that very clear all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth now that means every bit of authority that exists there's nothing outside the scope of Christ's reign his rule his government his crown but as we saw in the last hour Christ has this absolute authority but his peculiar focuses upon his church and that's a Blessed thought it's an encouraging thing and hopefully it produces in us a great deal of comfort so he has this authority he now delegates it to his disciples he tells them to go or while they oh when they engage in this particular act they are to go they are to make disciples how we make disciples we preach the gospel to them we declare the great truths of who Jesus Christ is I think there's a lot of misunderstanding here we hear that word gospel sort of thrown around so much that in some senses it needs to be defined it needs to be highlighted gospel is not my good feelings gospel is certainly not my good life or yours gospel is the story the facts the narratives concerning Christ his life his death his resurrection that's good news that's gospel the way by which we come into contact with God through the Lord Jesus is faith in other words how do the benefits that Christ brings in the gospel come to sinner's it comes by grace through faith in other words believe on the Lord Jesus Christ if you want to be right with God today if you were to die and you were to stand before God and you would have to give an account for your life the only way to be right is to be in Christ the only way to be prepared to meet your God is to be in Jesus and the only way to be in Jesus is to believe to look to him as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of man be lift it up now that first part refers to an instance in the life of Israel when God was angry with the people and he sent these snakes to bite people and these people would have died unless there was a remedy provided so God tells Moses to make a bronze Serpent and to lift it up in the wilderness and then the people that are bitten by the snakes are simply told to look at that bronze serpent and you will live they didn't debate they didn't ask a whole host of questions they didn't say well am i worthy to look they simply looked because therein was the remedy and Jesus uses that in likeness to his own ministry or his own mission as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so also must the Son of Man be lifted up what's the remedy for life to look look and live believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved so this is what disciple-making is all about and then Jesus says after you make disciples of all the nations a nod to the Abrahamic covenant the Abrahamic promise that in Abraham's seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed from those out of the nations that are made disciples you baptize these disciples you put them into water they identify with the triune God which we're going to focus on this morning and after they are baptized they're in the life in the context of the local church and then you teach them so that they grow so that they mature so that they understand the things not only that they sing when we sing our hymns but what they read when they read their scriptures so this morning I want to focus at the end of verse 19 the significance of the name into which believers are baptized notice verse 19 go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them the disciples that have been made in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit now there's a lot of God's that people worship not suggesting that they're true but I am suggesting that a lot of people in different religions have a different option of God and so there's no shortage of God's and I think in some of those different religions those gods that they worship are kind of just like supermen they're just better versions of man and unfortunately I think sometimes as Christians this gets co-opted we we sort of view God as just a better version of us a superior being but God's not like us God is God God is creator we are creature God is the god that Hezekiah describes when he prays in 2nd Kings chapter 19 he says O Lord God of Israel the one who dwells between the cherubim you are God you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth you have made heaven and earth he summarizes or ends rather his prayer by saying now therefore O Lord our God I pray save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord God you alone now within the Christian faith or Christianity the God whom we serve is infinite eternal and unchangeable our confession describes God the way the Bible sets him forth he is without body means God is spirit according to our Lord Jesus in John 4 God is without parts and that simply means that God isn't made up of a bunch of other things to produce God the gods in a class by himself and he is without body he is without parts and he is without passions that means God doesn't fluctuate he's not happy one day and angry the next day he doesn't have these emotional outbursts that so often characterized we the creature he's with our body without parts without passions he is incomparable he is all alone in terms of God and yet that one God expresses to us in the screen sure that he eternally exists in three persons this is what we call the Trinity fact we sang about the Trinity in him 89 and my desire is is that the people of God understand this doctrine of the Trinity perhaps not the way that Calvin or Gill or those brothers were able to explain it but we need to know something of what scripture says concerning this one God who eternally exists his Father Son and Holy Spirit and if you're new to Christianity and you're learning about Christianity you need to learn about the God and we serve he's not just a better version of man than he is one true everlasting God who has always existed as Father Son and Holy Spirit so that is a longer introduction that I'm accustomed to let's look at our text at the end of verse 19 the Lord Christ says baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit now that preposition in by name of when we read it that way in it seems to suggest that this is a baptismal formula in other words every time you baptize someone you baptize them with this language i baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit when you get to the book of Acts however you'll find that they didn't always use that formula they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus what are we supposed to make of that I think the primary emphasis here in Matthew 28:19 is that you're baptized into the name of again it's not wrong to use this as a formula an early church manual of doctrine and practice and probably dated around 80 120 called the decay uses this formula but then later speaks of baptizing in the name of the Lord it's proper to use the formula and that's okay but what we find primarily in view with verse 19 is they're baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit it shows identification with it shows belonging to it shows subjection on - as Davies and Allison say into the name probably means either in order that they maybe long - this is what Greek usage leads us to expect or in order that they may enter into a relationship with so in other words when we baptised Chloe last week we did use the formula i said i baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit but what does that baptism represent or identify certainly many excellent things for the subject of baptism it represents to them the fact that they have died and been buried and been raised with Christ it represents to them the fact that they are now in living vital Union and communion with the Lord Jesus it represents to them the fact that they they have received the remission of the forgiveness of sins but it also points to the fact that they are now owned property they now belong to another you are baptized into the name of the Christian God you are no longer your own you are subject to his authority you are subject to his rule you are subject to his lordship you belong to him and as a result there are certain expectations as the children of God not saved by works you're not saved by performance you're safe solely and alone by grace through faith but when we are saved by grace through faith what ultimately results holiness of life obedience to the master the service of Christ the taking of his yoke upon us according to Matthew chapter 11 going where he bids us singing and meaning all the way my Saviour leads I will happily comply and I will happily follow those who are baptized into the name of the triune God are subject to that triune God those who are baptized into the name of this God are now owned by this God and they need to follow this God now let's look at this threefold name notice go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name singular of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit an intriguing way to say that in the name singular one name and then three persons I don't want to load too much on this particular tax but at the same time I don't want to neglect it there is one name God three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit those enemies of truth that say the Trinity is not taught in the Bible haven't got a clue the Trinity is most certainly taught in the Bible so some of the times they say well the word Trinity is not in the Bible the early church and good theologians have always recognized that sometimes we need to use words that aren't in the Bible to protect the truths that are in the Bible some of the earliest debates concerned words usage of which that weren't necessarily in the Bible but the words were employed to protect the true doctrines of the Bible the idea that there is no Trinity in the Bible is an absolute lie and it's false we see this singular name Father Son and Holy Spirit this indicates what our confession of faith declares now some of this language may not be common terminology that you use every day and the temptation might be to say well I don't go to Saturday morning theology and I don't read birkoff and I don't read the father's and I don't read you know the blogs that deal with this so I'm just gonna tune out for the next half hour please don't do that you ever considered the fact that you just sang praises to the triune God you should really make it your duty to learn something of the triune God to whom you're praising what we need to understand some of this stuff because again when we do not there is the tendency to fall into error here's what our confession says and I'll draw out some sort of implications it says in this divine and infinite being so here we might say the name the name represents or sort of highlights or indicates this one infinite or divine or this divine and infinite be the confession goes on to say there are three subsistence s now there's the word that everybody's gonna go I don't know that word the Westminster Confession here uses the word persons we've got one divine infinite being one essence or substance and then three subsistence Azure persons this is how the Trinity is not a contradiction a contradiction is it's the case that something is three and it's not three the Trinity God is one in one sense and three in another sense he is one according to his essence or substance and he is three according to his subsistence or his persons see see it would be a contradiction if we said God is one essence or substance and he's three essences or substances you get that right he can't be three of one thing and one of the same thing without a contradiction but the doctrine of the Trinity does not maintain that he is one essence or substance those words often are used interchangeably and he is three persons or subsistence says let's go back to the confession in this divine and infinite being there are three subsistence --is the father the word or son and the holy spirit of one substance power and eternity each having the whole divine essence yet the essence undivided now they are distinguished among themselves by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations so this passage reflects that the one name of the three persons the one infinite and divine being that is three persons into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit John Gill says hence a confirmation of the doctrine of the Trinity there are three persons but one name but one God into which believers are baptized you see that right I'm not making this up everybody's with me I want everybody to follow this because it's absolutely crucial and because a lot of errors are made right here both in the early church and in the modern church fact some of those errors were consistent in the early church and they're still persistent today the heresy of try theism which teaches three gods that there are three gods the Christian doctrine of the Trinity according to tri-c ISM is that the father is God the Son is God the Spirit is God three gods that's not what the Trinity maintains the doctrine of the Trinity what you have in try theism is that there are three different essences that are all God of course you have competitors of course you have three nets in that way then there's what's called the heresy of modalism again this isn't just back then with sibelius and some of the other fathers this is right now in the oneness Pentecostal church right now this idea of modalism it's a denial of the three personal subsistence --is it's a denial says that god was father became son and now is the Holy Spirit again brethren that is a way to try and explain what Scripture presents but it's a way that's very wrong it argues that the one divine essence or person manifests itself in three modes or roles he was the father he became the son and now he's the Holy Spirit this whole idea of oneness in Jesus name only well for them Jesus means God again Jesus does mean God but we need to distinguish and we need to explain how that is the case and then there's what's called the heresy of subordination ISM claims that the divine essence is marked by a gradation of degree or rank or is there is this one divine essence but the persons within this one divine essence are gradated by rank the father and then the son is subordinate and then the Spirit is subordinate subordination is up all those things have plagued the church from the earliest times and they plagued the church today so it is important that I say that you look at our confession of faith that does correctly that forth the doctrine of the Trinity now with reference to our text go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit turn back to Matthew 3 Matthew chapter 3 all three persons are present at the baptism of Jesus notice in Matthew 3 beginning in verse 13 then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him and John tried to prevent him saying I need to be baptized by you and are you coming to me but jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness then he allowed him now before we actually get into the three persons of the Trinity that this tax so clearly sets forth I just want to focus on what Jesus says here for just a moment by way of anis I notice that Jesus says permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness why does Christ say that or why does Christ do that because the message of the gospel that I defined earlier as the message of Christ's life death and resurrection requires that his wife be one of obedience you get that Christ's life on earth was a life of obedience to the Father obedience to the father's law obedience perfect exact entire and perpetual and obedience that the father demands from us but we are all set on AIM we're unwilling we're unable there is nothing in us that complies with the law of God the way he took they calls us to it's not perfect it's not exact it's not entire and it's certainly not perpetual that is not the way we obey the law of God this is why Christ came into the world so that he could fulfill all righteousness so he could obey the father so that he could comply with that written law said he always did what the father gave him he always obeyed well why do we need that because of our lawlessness we need is lawfulness because of our sin and perversion we need his holiness because of our unrighteousness we need his righteousness the Lord's Christ fulfilled all righteousness in his life he then died as a sacrifice on the cross as a sacrifice as a substitute as one who bore the wrath and penalty of God the Father he then was raised the third day now the Christian gospel goes forth and sinners are called upon to believe when sinners believe by the grace of God upon this Lord Jesus they receive benefit from his death to be sure our sins are forgiven his blood atones for us we are cleansed we are purified we now sing my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord that is a blessed thing for the people of God to know the forgiveness of sins but it's through his fulfillment of all righteousness that we received this righteousness so now we stand before God as righteous in other words Christ forgives or the life and the death and the minute a resurrection of Christ brings forgiveness but it also brings a righteousness that we need God hasn't suspended that God doesn't say okay your sins are forgiven you now but go ahead and not provide a righteousness the gospel provides the righteousness that God demands and that's the blessing of this statement when Jesus says it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness he always went about doing good he never violated the law think about the Ten Commandments for a moment I mean how many of you every broke them broken by the time you got here today I love the way we're so proud well you know I'm a good person are you really like you woke up this morning your mind went right to and loved it to him this is the demands of the Shema the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength if you thought coffee before God you failed if you thought bathroom before God you failed you get the point we are proud and arrogant and think that we're good we're not good we're terrible we're monstrous the Bible can't say enough bad about us I'm sorry if you're gonna go home and pout and whine and cry and say he really made me unhappy today maybe you need a good dose of unhappiness to see your condition before holy God so you'll see her need for the Lord Jesus Christ you see brethren we break the law we sin against God we defile everything he says is good and holy not only an acts of commission we transgress but in the things that he tells us to do that we don't do sins of omission if any of you ever think you're doing well go to Exodus 20 go to Deuteronomy 5 and read through the Decalogue read through the Ten Commandments and ask yourself is this true of me God says have no other gods before me you say well I don't worship bail I don't worship Moloch I don't worship the almighty dollar you probably worship yourself you say well I don't blaspheme I was taught when I was a youngin that you don't use the name of God or Jesus as a blasphemous word our conduct can bring blasphemy and shame to the name of God Sabbath we all wake up on Sunday morning eager ready to go to the house of the Lord and spend our day and thoughts and meditations and words and contemplations focused upon our great God who is Father Son and Holy Spirit yeah we do that until about you know 10 minutes after we're out of bed and then it's I wonder who won the game I wonder what we're having for lunch I wonder what I'm gonna do tomorrow at my business meeting and boy is this sermon ever gonna end the fifth commandment what's God say with reference to children go ahead and conduct yourselves like beasts whine grumble complain cry and scream for everything you want at Walmart embarrass your parents make other people want to take you know discipline to you you just do that you just be free express yourselves no children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and your mother again how often do you engage in that perpetually exactly entirely and personally the six commandment he said well I never murder I haven't good you know actually killed anybody you've murdered in the heart if you've been angry without cause if you've called your brother fool or raka empty head knucklehead brainless fool whatever seventh commandment I mean you know most of us if I say why don't we just skip that one we can't skip that one what does Jesus say as long as you haven't actually engaged in the physical touch with another human being everything's okay no if you look upon a woman I will infer or a man to lust you have broken the commandment in your heart the eighth commandment oh I never steal do you go to work and give your employer the eight hours he's paying for your thoughts are completely devoted and dedicated to him ninth commandment don't bear false witness again another one that we might want to conveniently just bypass and in the tenth commandment who of us hasn't coveted really are you with me we need a righteousness brethren that avails with God and the fact that Jesus fulfills all righteousness when the sinner by the grace of God looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ he is justified and justification is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardons all of our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone it's beautiful the glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone back to the tax notice in verse 16 when he had been baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were open to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased turret intense the saying of the ancients Aryan go to Jordan and there you will see the Trinity you see all three persons are here all three persons are present we go back to Matthew chapter 28 this isn't some new thing this isn't some revolutionary concept or thought what is however is the fact that Jesus identifies himself with the father and the spirit again not revolutionary or or you know outside the realm of what the Bible taught us to expect in terms of the Messiah to come in the old testament but imagine for this first audience how did they know Jesus they knew Jesus is a wonderful man they knew Jesus is a wonderful teacher they saw Jesus engage in miracles and excellent things they saw him feed multitudes they saw him heal the blind they saw him heal the Deaf and the mute he saw they saw them saw Jesus actually still the waves and the and the and the winds but they had also seen him brutally beaten they had also seen him pulling across they had heard that religious leaders mocking him they had seen him die and now behold he has been raised behold he has absolute sovereign authority over all things and he says baptize these newly made disciples in the name singular of Father Son and Holy Spirit again back to John Gill he says and this is a proof of the true deity of both the Son and of the Holy Spirit and that Christ as the Son of God is God since baptism is administered equally in the name of all three as a religious ordinance a part of divine instituted worship which would never be in the name of a creature you see you can't link yourself with God as creature Christ is not creature Christ is the second person of the Trinity who took on creature he took on man he took on humanity he identifies with us such that he takes all of the essential properties and the common infirmities of man but he is God he never stopped being God the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth it's a wonderful thing brethren when you appreciate what Jesus does in history and then you look behind it to what Jesus is in eternity and He is God baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit now this joins several other passages in the New Testament that show us this one God and three persons we see the one god Ness in Deuteronomy 6 here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one you see at first Corinthians chapter 8 New Testament authors Old Testament authors never posited the existence of several gods now the Old Testament to mock the heathen or the pagan New Testament does that as well certainly men think that their belly is God certainly men think their pile of loot is God certainly men think that their prestige of their power their ability is God let this mean it is so the authors of the scripture at times use that convention to mock them in fact psalm 115 the idols of the nation's they have eyes that they can't see they have ears for they can hear like a mouse but they can't speak they've got you know noses but they can't smell I mean you get the point right you ever read psalm 115 and said okay we get it he's piling on invective to attack the idea that there are these competitor gods and then he says all those who worship them become like them or those who make them become like that idolatry has an effect you become that which you worship so the Bible tells us there is one God the Bible tells us that the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are God notice the specific texts that deal with the three go to first Corinthians chapter 12 it's very important if you walk down Gil Avenue on a Saturday morning you're gonna see people out there that are representative of the Watchtower Bible and tract Society and they're gonna tell you that the Trinity is not in the Bible Jesus isn't God you're gonna probably bump into that sort of thing in your life you're gonna meet people at the water cooler at work I'm gonna say well you know I don't believe Jesus God Wow there you go my satellite right tell people say well I don't believe it you recognize how people take that as fact what I do or don't believe is definitional defines what a fact is know God's Word does and God's Word teaches there is one God who exists eternally its Father Son and Holy Spirit just showing you some of these texts that have all three persons notice in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verses 4 and 4 to 6 there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit there are differences of ministries but the same Lord and there are diversities of activities but it is the same God who works all in all you see Lord spirit God God in context is father more often than not in the New Testament when we read God it's referring to father but strictly speaking God is Father Son and Holy Spirit but the Scriptures does use or do use the convention God or the name God specifically for father at times it uses the name God or thais for Christ at times as well when Thomas sees Jesus what does he say my lord and by God that is the name God or the word God applied specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ it does this with reference to the spirit when Peter is rebuking Ananias and Sapphira you have not lied to man but to God in this lie against the Holy Spirit what you have done as you've lied against God for the most part when we read God oftentimes in context it's a reference to father notice second Corinthians 13:14 the benediction the good word 2nd Corinthians 13:14 the grace the Lord Jesus and the love of Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen notice in Galatians 4 4 to 6 Galatians 4 4 to 6 but when the fullness of the time had come God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons and because you are sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying out Abba Father interestingly enough this also highlights something of those relative properties and personal relations that the the persons of the trinity bear and possess the father is unbegotten the son is begotten the spirit proceeds from the father and the son what is true of God in himself is oftentimes flashed out in the economy of redemption the father sends the son the father sends the spirit the spirit proceeds from the father and the son reflecting to us something of what is true of God in himself it's a beautiful and a glorious thing and then notice in Ephesians form if she said well he skipped Ephesians 1 you're right we don't have you know worlds of time God is eternal and we are not I always remember that and I try not to keep you here past a certain time but Ephesians 1 is certainly Trinitarian the work or God the Father is blessed why because he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world God the Father has blessed why because in his son Christ we have redemption through his blood God the Father has blast wide because of the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit who is the seal in the guarantee of our final inheritance the Father the Son and the Spirit are all those that we praise with reference to salvation from the one God but notice in Ephesians 4 specifically verses 4 to 6 there is one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all again when you meet those people on Yale is it well there's no Trinity in the Bible you're gonna say wait a minute I just read the Trinity in the Bible but the words not use the concept is present the particular word doesn't have to be in the Bible for the truth than to be there this is just how foolish it has become about the word Trinity's not in there so I'm not gonna believe it but the Trinity's in there you should believe it but the words not there I'm not gonna believe it I pull the concordance down one day I opened it up to the tease I popped it open and there was no Trinity so therefore I'm not going to believe it again brethren we use words outside of the Bible to protect the truths inside the Bible if we don't do that we're gonna be heretics if we don't do that we are going to be damned now when it comes to Christian doctrine there are things that Christians and churches disagree about not all those things we disagree about will send us to hell the Trinity does we need to be right when it comes to the Trinity we need to be right on who Jesus Christ is we need to be right on the way of salvation now we differ on baptism in this text is one particular instance of that fact last week I think I made some comments that were anti paedo Baptist in nature but you let anal Baptists saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord praise God Almighty for that and a whole host of paedo Baptists wrote a whole host of great books that are in my shelves right now and I have no intention of throwing them out on Wednesday when the garbage man comes we can disagree about some things but we can't disagree about who God is we can't disagree about who Christ is we can't agree what the witnesses that say that the Holy Spirit is active force no you can grieve in you can lie to him he speaks he equips people with gifts how in the world is that active force he is the third person of the Blessed Trinity God blessed forever we can have no truck with those who deny the triune God we preach gospel to them we urge them to believe what scripture says we tried to declare truth and the the glorious truth of the Trinity but in terms of being brothers and sisters they're worshiping an idol they might as well bow to bail they might as well bow to Molech they might as well give themselves to their money or to their sex or to their drugs into their rock and roll or whatever it is they're worshipping brethren the God of the Bible is one God three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit that's it that's why this is important kids you're probably oh man a lot of this language has gone over my head but you know what you need to hear this language you need to be tutored in it you need to be catechized in it you need to out think your parents because at the present this doctrine is under a great deal of attack and more often than not the doctrine is attacked through the person of Jesus this idea that Jesus is eternally subordinate to the Father is an attack upon the doctrine of the Trinity this is getting commonplace today in heaven Jellicle is a names that everybody thinks are great theologians are teaching the eternal subordination of the son to the Father that is wrong Jesus willingly submits himself to the Father in the economy of salvation Jesus willingly submits himself to the Father when he takes on our flesh when he comes down for us men and for our salvation he willingly submits himself to the Father but that's in the economy of salvation of redemption that doesn't speak to the relationships that that are there between the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and when we do that when we argue from the economy back into you know what's called the immanent Trinity or the ontological Trinity we're going to error this is what mark the ark could debates with reference to impossibility we may not like the thought of a god doesn't have passions but we ought to praise the fact that God doesn't have passions because he is most loving he can't increase and he can't decrease he is most good that means he can't get more good or less good impassibility highlights the goddness of God the way that the person's messed that up is to say well Jesus bled jesus wept Jesus had hair that therefore it must be true of God we don't argue from the economy back to the immanent Trinity there are rules that the church has always recognized but now it's anybody's game now we're gonna do whatever we want it's like the time you look listed for us in the book of Judges there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes well Jesus wept Jesus bled Jesus had hair so therefore God wraps our weeps bleeds and has hair you can't do that don't do that you have to make distinctions you have to understand who God is you have to understand father son spirit relationships that that occur between them or within God and how God relates to man or to creature get it it may sound difficult it's simply because we have been trained to think this way we've been taught on the catechism or there are more gods than one no there is but one only the true and living God in how many persons does this one God exist there are three persons in the Godhead the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit these three are one God the same in substance equal in power and glory praise God Almighty from whom all good doctrine comes the Westminster Shorter Catechism there is beautiful you get that you're gonna be doing well better get chapter 2 in our confession of faith you're doing very very well and before you say well that's in the confession and that's in the Catechism it's from the Bible they're compact succinct carefully articulated statements of Bible truth we cannot pick the two against each other oh you guys hold to that confession of faith and I'm thankful to Lord God Almighty that we do because if we don't we're gonna blow of his witnesses we don't end up Mormons if we don't we're gonna end up civilians if we don't we're gonna end up oneness phonic Pentecostal if we don't we're gonna end up try Theus if we don't we're gonna end up in a whole host of problems I look at those confessions and that and the work of the church you see brethren the creeds and the confessions reflect something that is right here in Matthew 28 go therefore make disciples baptize them teach them we expect in the teaching ministry of the church that there will be the articulation of truth right or Ephesians 4 if we were to keep on reading Christ ascended on high he led captivity captive and he gives gifts to man what are the gifts there it's not songs that prophesy let the gifted helps not service the gifts in Ephesians 4 our men some prophets some apostles some pastors teachers why so you can equip the church it's gonna bring maturity to the church you look at those Creed's and confessions and we say oh that's against the Bible no it's a fruit of the Bible because Jesus gave the church these gifts and these gifts outshined a whole lot of other gifts and they took pen to paper and they articulated and crafted good statements to protect the church from abandoning the scripture you see we need to be taught these things and not tune out when it's not a sermon on five principles of being a better me or two now when it's not something real practical we've got this disconnect between the practical and the doctrinal brethren if the doctrine of the Trinity doesn't affect you practically you're not listening you're not paying attention you're not understanding that the work and the ministry and the mission of our Lord Jesus christ has behind it it's almost difficult to talk this way because it sounds weird but the work and the ministry and the the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus it didn't just happen some sunny day that in Israel of man rose up and he thought I'm gonna do great noble things got into eternity know who God is how much that God loves creatures in the sending of this son to save them see my thought is is that you look at the cross and and then you you look beyond it into who God is I'm not saying everything true in the economy is necessarily true in terms of the immanent Trinity but it's certainly a window it's certainly a way to gaze upon and behold our God you see we just don't want to do this because we want tips and you know helps on how to be a better me now I'm not necessarily I'm always against that the best way to be a better use to repent believe the gospel and do exactly what Jesus says that's how you'll be a better you always well I I hope that I hope that you're seeing this it's not just because oh he's been reading stuff on the Trinity as a result of the ARB impassibility debate it did cause us to read more in this doctrine of God theology proper and at least for my own part it's shown me just how deficient and knowledge I am but as well how the churches we are satisfied with just terrible formulations of biblical truths and we shouldn't be we're the rich inheritors of the look you know second London confession of faith of 1677 / 1689 which in their doctrinal statements concerning the theology proper and and and Christology guess where they went well we're gonna do some brand new thing I'm talking about Westminster and Savoye I'm talking about early church those brothers in the early church hammered this stuff out we're going to just co-op their language we're gonna bring it right into our confession of faith because it's so good not for us we got to be new we got to do something different we got to retool it all and reorient it all and in the process we lose God that's the problem involved with this that's the problem with not hearing sermons on the Trinity of not attending our studies in the confession of faith when we're in Chapter two and when we're in Chapter eight and when we discuss these things and how it is the case that in this one divide being there are these three subsistence 'iz and how this is not only not contradictory but this is precisely what scripture says and Matthew 28 is one of those stones upon which we stab baptized into the name singular of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit how else does one describe that or explain that convention then the Trinity is taught in the Bible now there might be the fool out there that said well Jesus did the not he is the plural term names I certainly don't want to be that person that goes up against Jesus on a grammar debate brethren this is absolutely positively 100% crucial for you to get and for you to assimilate as well second Thessalonians 2 13 and 14 and there are many many more again preachers say that when they don't mean it sometimes but I actually mean it we just don't have time as I said God's eternal we're not you all want to go home and eat your lunch I get that I try to respect out I don't ever try to keep you over I find that it's just not a good way to live you might throw tomatoes at my car someday and I don't want tomatoes thrown at my car second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13 we are bound to give thanks to God always for you brethren beloved by the Lord because God chose you from the beginning from the beginning I'm sorry because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth we got Godfather we got spirit to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ you see it's not one or two passages that set before us this reality of Father Son and Holy Spirit the New Testament is explicitly and thoroughly Trinitarian Paul deals with gifts in a Trinitarian context Paul deals with salvation Trinitarian context Paul deals with everything Trinitarian context John greets his readers in Asia Minor in a Trinitarian context what do you think these authors are suggesting to us by way of their practice we need to think in terms of a Trinitarian context when we enter into this place it's not in the first place to encourage one another though that should help or that should take place it is to come to the Father through the mediation of the son by the power and in the Holy Spirit if a church does not expressly commit themselves to the God who is try you or if you can go to a church and it would be a sermon that could it could have successfully be preached in a Jewish synagogue that's bad we are Trinitarians we are committed to the truth of one God three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit we are committed to that absolutely positively will said with our lives it is with our lives this is one of the doctors you died for when I first came here almost 21 years ago I thought I'd die for postmillennialism not in a chance brethren not in a million years now no way you go ahead and be pre mil you go right at you have all those thoughts of pre mil and you talk about it you enjoy it we're great we can live together and be harmonious together and worship together and that's fine but Trinity we die for who Jesus is we die for this is one of those things they put a gun to your head do you believe in the Trinity yes you believe in post millennialism yes but don't shoot don't kill me Trinity we die for Jesus we die for spirit we die for justification by faith we die for brethren those are the core doctrines these are the defining terms of what it means to be Christian it's not just some attempt at a better life is not just some moral Reformation it's not just putting on a suit on Sunday and showing up at a place called church it's about dirty vile helpless wicked God hating sinners finding him to be a God of grace mercy forgiveness kindness and love knowing that grace understanding that grace and by that grace believing in his son that son who is God that son who is man yet not two but one person and realizing that he fulfilled all righteousness for sinners like me that he died on the cross for sinners like me that he was raised the third day for sinners like me encapsulated in Romans 4:25 he was delivered up because of our offenses but he was raised for our justification these are the defining terms of Christianity in church this is meant this is what makes us who we are it is this God who is Father Son and spirit if we don't know this we don't know him if we don't know him we are held bound and the only hope of salvation at that point is to look to Christ to believe on him and to say not words I'm not going to give you the formula I'm wretched God's holy Christ is the only way of salvation and by His grace I believe I'm gonna hold on and I'm not gonna let go I've shared before there's a an amusement park in California that that we like up until Kim and I last time we went we reflected our age we took the kids and they're running around it's it closes at 10:00 and you know it's 9:00 and the kids are running from ride to ride right and cam and I were sitting on a bench I remember being a young kid thinking why would anybody sit on a bench when there's all these great rides cuz they get older and they don't want to walk anymore and then they get sick to their stomach with these rides but that particular Park everybody goes to Disneyland but this is Six Flags and they have these roller coasters and they call them white knuckler a white knuckler is you're holding on so tight because you don't want to fall out that your knuckles are white it's the doctrine of the Trinity it's the doctrine of who are jesus is it's the doctrine of our salvation these are white knuckler we don't give on this we don't relinquish on this we're like a dog with a bone when it comes to this you ain't taking it from us and brethren the more you get your minds wrapped around who this God is the more you study these things with a view to understanding who God is the more your knuckles are going to get whiter and the more your grip is going to be tenacious and the more you're gonna be like that dog that no one will ever try to take that boat away from brethren that's the importance and the value of this particular message in conclusion to quotes and then we go first with reference to our text in Matthew 28 we see the glory of our triune God the doctrine of the Trinity must be known and believed because that is who God is it's just that simple how can we believe in a God we don't know how can we believe in a God we don't understand I don't this is something else because a well it's contradiction it's so hard to understand have you taken the time to read you know it's amazing to me the professing people of God they think they're gonna put their Bible under their pillow at night put their head on it it's just gonna sort of seep in as they as they sleep I got this zany notion pick up a book and read it have any of you gone through the confession of faith recently and looked at chapter two or chapters eight are these things vital and important in your life the psalmist said great are the works of Yahweh there studied by all who delight in them it's always intrigued me that people will study a whole host of things out there but the people of God will never study their God I mean it's an unfortunate thing that the cultists know more about their heretical God than the believers know about their true God we were old Hank Anna Graf used to say that Oh was it hit wasn't him as Malta Malta Marta there might be Hank and I'm not here to comment I know Hank's made some weird changes here lately but are we willing to do for the truth what the Colts do for a lie my experience quite honestly not always not always so I've just got all these other concerns what greater concern in your life I know you're important I know you're a snowflake I know you're delicate and I know you're wonderful in the grand scheme of things but what really is more important in your life than the knowledge of who God is and it isn't that everything is now Jesus defines for us eternal life this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent I know you're busy we're all busy get up earlier stay up later paint your leg so that you don't fall asleep and read our confession at a bare minimum chapters two chapters you know chapter eight those ones that that deal with the specifics of who God is because it's not important Calvin says on this text thus we perceive that God cannot be truly known unless our faith distinctly conceive of the three persons in one essence Francis terton said for it is not sufficient to know that God is we certainly need to know that God is Hebrews 11 those who come to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him but listen atherton for it is not sufficient to know that God is as to existence or what he is as to his attributes but we must know also who yes see turret ins not saying we don't need to know that he is we don't need to know that he's got attributes or he is attributes but we also know need to know who he is he goes on to say but we must know also who he is as to the person's as he presents himself to be known by us in his word hence whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father first John 2:23 and he that honoureth not the son honoureth not the Father which had sent him by John 5:23 he says therefore God has revealed himself as one in essence three in persons viz the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit now listen to this cutting statement again it applies to pagans and their gods but it could equally apply to professing Christians who either adopt a tri theistic approach or a modal istic approach or a subordination istic approach he says thus he who does not acknowledge and believe the Trinity has not the true God but has erected for himself an idol in the place of God so why a whole sermon on a little part of Matthew 28:19 because of that because of that and brethren this doll not doctrine of the Trinity is not only necessary in terms of who God is but for your practical comfort this is one thing that distinguishes the 1689 from the Westminster and Savoye it's not in those two but after the discussion concerning God in himself God in himself is what we might call internal relations father son spirit one common undivided essence three subsistence Azure persons after this discussion of who God is in himself you think they'd end with okay now go out and pursue your PhDs in theology go out and carry yourself as proud Pharisees that you now know something about the Christian faith that all the other rabble doesn't know that's what are they in that particular discussion says it is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence on him that's why the doctrine of the Trinity is practically important because it is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence on him how do you guys believe that because the Bible tells me so and it's because it is most blessed most comfortable and this is where I depend well praise God Almighty for the truth that he reveals to us in Scripture concerning who he is one God three persons Father Son Holy Spirit no contradiction no insoluble mystery but a mystery revealed by God to be believed by the people of God for the worship of God and for the comfortable dependence upon him again if you don't know Jesus here this morning a lot of this stuff is going to just go wow I can't even understand you know a person you need to know Christ if you leave learning anything this morning learn and know this God is a holy God man is a sinful man and by man I mean man woman boy and girl all of us included we have offended this God we have raised our fist at this God we have not done what this God says and as a result we deserve punishment we deserve damnation we deserve judgment we deserve hell but God sent his son that those who believed in him might have everlasting life so look look and live to use the analogy of the serpent lifted up in the wilderness look and live well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the statement of our Lord concerning the name singular and the persons plural Father Son and Holy Spirit give us grace to receive this with Thanksgiving give us grace obviously to believe this and give us grace Almighty God to see how important it is not only that you are and not only that you are this particular way but but who you are who you are in your being we pray that you would give us the mind of Christ in this pursuit and give us the grace to delight ourselves in the study of God Almighty and Lord we do pray for more and more versions we pray for more and more people to be made disciples through the preaching of the gospel we rejoice to baptize newly redeemed ones we pray that in this coming year this tank would be filled on many occasions and many sinners would be plunged beneath that flood and it would indeed demonstrate that they have lost all their guilty sins go with us now we pray in Jesus Holy Name Amen well we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you