They turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, as I said this evening,

Introduction

we're going to consider God the Holy Trinity. It's quite a lofty subject, lofty topic. There are many, many verses that I have on my papers here that we probably will not get to this evening. There's just a lot of scripture that bears upon this glorious subject to know The Triune God is to know the God of Holy Scripture.

It is absolutely crucial that we understand the Trinity. Francis Turretin, he said, 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. The only true and living God is the Triune God of Holy Scripture. Another man by the name of Peter Toon, he said that preachers and teachers need so to communicate the faith and so direct public worship that they really and truly give the impression that the Holy Trinity is God and God is the Holy Trinity.

And then Herman Boving, speaking of that great contender for the faith in the early church, the man by the name of Athanasius, who fought against the heretic, not physically, but spiritually and doctrinally, fought against the heretic Arius. Bobbitt says this with reference to Athanasius. He said that Athanasius understood better than any of his contemporaries that Christianity stands or falls with the confession of the deity of Christ and of the Trinity. In the confession of the Trinity throbs the heart of the Christian religion.

Every error results from or upon deeper reflection may be traced to a wrong view of this doctrine. So it is absolutely crucial that we understand what the Bible says concerning this most glorious topic. concerning the nature, the being of our God most high. Well, I'll just read Ephesians one beginning in verse three. We'll read the verse 14, one long sentence that celebrates the triune God in the work of salvation.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him. in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him." In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In him, you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Amen.

Well, we see here, just as I read in verses three to fourteen, the celebration, the praise given to God for salvation to the believer. We see that God, the Father, is praised specifically in verses three to five. It is God, the Father, who chose. It is God, the Father, who elected.

It is God, the Father, who predestined. And then the spotlight focuses upon God, the son, the Lord Jesus Christ, verse seven in him. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, and then the Holy Spirit is a little highlighted there in verses thirteen and fourteen in him. You also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

In whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all active in the salvation of His people. And I want to do two things this evening. First of all, the doctrine defined.

The Doctrine Defined

What is taught in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and what is not taught in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. And then secondly, I want to look at the doctrine defended. We'll look at various places in the Old Testament and various places in the New Testament. And I am convinced, along with B.B.

Warfield, who said, in a word, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are fundamental proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. Everybody accepts that the Father is God, so we won't spend time looking at various texts indicating that. But we will focus on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to show that they are God, that they are part of the triune God. And just before we begin with the doctrine defined, there's a lot of people, a lot of Reformed people who speak of the incomprehensibility of God.

Now, incomprehensibility means that God cannot be comprehended. And we have to define that. We cannot fully comprehend God, but we can comprehend Him. He has revealed Himself.

He has given us propositions. He has given us His Word. The Spirit teaches us and guides us and instructs us so that the knowledge that we do possess about God is accurate as long as it is consistent with the interpretation of Scripture. We need to be careful about the incomprehensibility of God.

Some could take that to mean that we can't know anything about God. Well, that's simply not the case. Of course, we can know something about God. We can never know fully.

We can never exhaust the knowledge of God. We don't know everything about God the way God knows everything about himself. But we can know truth. We do know truth as we come to the Holy Scripture.

And then a second thing we need to consider is the word contradiction. Sometimes Christians set themselves unwittingly when they begin to get into discussions about the Trinity. Some say there's three and there's one. That's a contradiction.

No, there's one essence or one substance, but there's three persons. One substance or essence and three persons. It's not the case that we have three essences and one essence. We have three persons, one substance.

It is not a contradictory doctrine. God does not call us to believe contradictions. God calls us to believe truth. While some things may puzzle us, while some things may be difficult for us, that does not mean that they are contradictions.

Do not go down that road, because if you can be shown to believe a contradiction, then you are in error. And the Bible does not present God, the triune God, in that fashion. It is consistent. It is not contradictory.

It is the case that we worship one God, in essence, who exists eternally in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And that brings us to the doctrine defined, and again, just going back to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, succinct, brief and very biblical questions and answers. Numbers five and six ask these questions. Are there more gods than one?

And the answer is, there is but one only, the living and the true God. There is but one only, the living and true God. The catechism then says, how many persons are there in the Godhead? The answer is, there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. So basically, with reference to the Trinity, we need to see three things. Try to do that so it's easy. Trinity three, so that you'll be able to memorize this, so that you'll be able to follow along.

Three things the Bible sets forth. There is one living and true God. Deuteronomy, chapter six, verse four. Here, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. That's Deuteronomy six, verse four, first Corinthians chapter eight and verse four. Paul highlights the same thing. There is one God.

The Bible also teaches that the father, the son and the Holy Spirit are each fully and equally God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each fully and equally God. As the Catechism says, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. And then the third thing that we need to understand is that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each distinct persons.

The Father did not die on the cross. The Lord Jesus died on the cross. The spirit was poured out by the Lord Jesus on the day of Pentecost. Each of these persons has a specific role in the matter of salvation.

So I read from Ephesians one three to fourteen. Very often the work of salvation is that grand demonstration of the three persons of the triune God. The Father chose, predestined, the Father elects. The Son comes into the world, He dies, He rises again, and He ascends on high.

The Spirit is like the wind that comes upon the elect of God. and regenerates them and brings them forth and illumines them and teaches them and instructs them and all these things. We have one glorious God working in triunity to bless his people and to save them from their sins. That's an overall definition of the doctrine.

Errors the Doctrine Excludes

What is not taught is polytheism. Polytheism simply means a multitude of gods. We don't worship three gods. We worship one God. in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Polytheism is a denial of the Bible's teaching that there is but one true and living God. Polytheism was common in the Roman Empire. Polytheism is very common today. People have a whole host of or a variety of gods.

In Old Covenant Israel, they were surrounded by polytheistic nations. The judgments of God upon Egypt, each of the various plagues that the Lord used to judge Egypt, had an indirect judgment against the gods of Egypt. God says that He executes judgment against the gods of Egypt. various elements in nature. So when God uses those elements of nature as a judgment upon them, he is showing that not only are they not gods, but they are under the control of the sovereign God.

What is not taught is what's called Aryanism. Now, Aryanism isn't a bunch of guys with skinheads and swastikas. That's not the Aryan that I'm speaking of. The Aryanism here refers to that man Arius who fought against Athanasius in the early church.

Arius taught that there was a time when the sun was not. There was a time when the Son was not. In other words, Arius denied the eternality of Jesus. He denied the Godhood of Jesus.

And you can meet the followers of Arius today just about any morning right there on Yale Road. They'll be holding up a magazine either called Awake or The Watchtower. The Jehovah's Witnesses are modern day Aryans. They deny the deity of Jesus Christ and they deny the personality of the Holy Spirit.

So what is not taught is polytheism, Aryanism, or another heresy called modalism. And modalism, and I realize you probably didn't bargain for a lot of theological jargon this evening, but it's absolutely crucial to understand, because if you deviate one little bit on either direction, you fall into heresy. It's very important, very, very absolutely crucial that you get these things down. Modalism denies the distinction between the persons.

Basically, what modalism teaches is that God was the father. He became Jesus, the son, and now he's the Holy Spirit. Two men in history, the first man is called Sibelius. If you hear of Sibelianism, he was a modalist.

Also, Sicilius, I believe, was also associated with modalism as well. And if modalism is correct, we don't know God. We don't know God. That's the biggest problem with modalism, because if he was the father, he became the son and he is now the Holy Spirit.

We really don't know what he is in his essence. So we're lost. We are not modalists. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. There are some brands of Pentecostalism that subscribe to modalism. There is the oneness Pentecostals that subscribe to modalism, which is ancient heresy come back into the modern world. So those are what we do not mean when we teach the doctrine of the Trinity.

What is taught is that there is one true and living God who exists in the Father, or exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Doctrine Defended: Old Testament

Now let us move to the Old Testament. The Old Testament, B.B. Warfield said the Old Testament may be likened to a chamber. Listen to this.

This is very good. The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished, but dimly lighted. The introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before, but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it, but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before. You get that?

You're in a nice parlor, and there's all this beautiful furniture, and just the introduction of light doesn't put that furniture in there. It simply illumines what was already there. The Old Testament is replete with the Trinity. God is the Trinity.

And therefore, in the beginning, God refers to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say the mystery of the Trinity underlies the Old Testament revelation, and here and there comes into view. Thus, the revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation that follows it, but only perfected, extended and enlarged. I think that's absolutely spot on.

The Trinity is in the Old Testament. The New Testament simply turns on more light and simply shines more brightly on this glorious truth of who God is. Genesis chapter one, the plural form of the divine name. Some have said that this refers to the majesty of God.

It refers to the Trinity. It refers to the plurality, the tri personality. Genesis chapter one, verse twenty six. Then God said, let us make man in our image.

According to our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22. Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us to know good and evil again in Genesis chapter eleven at the Tower of Babel in verse seven. Indeed, excuse me, verse seven.

Come, let us go down there and and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. The same reference of the same idea is found in Isaiah six, verse seven at the commissioning of the prophet. The Lord God says, Who will go for us? And the prophet Isaiah raises his hand and says, Here am I, Lord, send me.

There are references in the Old Testament to the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord. Now, there's various angels of the Lord, but generally speaking, when the word appears with angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, it refers to the second person of the triune God. We see that because the angel of the Lord is spoken of as deity.

He is spoken of as being God himself, and there are various references for this. Genesis chapter 6, 16, rather, verses 2 to 13. Genesis chapter 22, 11 and 16. Chapter 31, 11 and 13.

And then also in Judges 13, 20 to 22. And then there are various promises in the Old Testament, a testament about a coming Messiah, about the one who would come to save his people from their sins. And that Messiah is attributed to be God. In Isaiah chapter 9, what it says about the Lord Jesus Christ is simply amazing.

In Isaiah 9, you can turn there for a moment. Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, run to us. A child is born unto us. A son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and peace.

There will be no end. upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. What a beautiful statement concerning the divinity of the coming Messiah, the Christ who would come and have the government laid upon his shoulder. Edward Payson said, admire him as wonderful, consult him as counselor, adore him as God, be born of him as your everlasting father and submit to him as the Prince of Peace.

The Psalter is filled with references to the divine Messiah who would come to save his people from their sins. In Psalm 2, it says of Christ that he says, or that the Father says to Christ, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. Psalm 110, verse 1, the Lord God, most I said to my Lord, Jesus Christ, Sit down at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. We see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

Again, the light is not as shining bright as perhaps on the day of Pentecost, but the Spirit is active. The Spirit is there at the creation brooding over the waters. The Spirit is green, according to Isaiah 63 and verse 10. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30.

So the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all throughout the pages of the Old Testament.

The Doctrine Defended: New Testament

But when we get to the New Testament, we see that glory fully display again. B.B. Warfield said it is not a text here and there that the New Testament bears its testimony of the doctrine of the Trinity. The whole book is Trinitarian to the core.

You need to get this, because I fear that at times we only think about Matthew 28 and the baptismal formula, when Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. And then he says, baptizing them in the name singular of the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Do you realize that is but one text out of a whole multitude of texts?

And as I said, we won't even be able to scratch the surface tonight. When the opponents of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity tell you that it's simply not taught in the Bible, they are simply evidencing their ignorance of the scriptures and their rebellion against the triune God. It is absolutely set forth crystal clearly. Now, it's mysterious.

It may be difficult. It may be hard and all of that stuff. But there is no lack of data. There is no lack of information concerning this glorious truth.

Warfield said the whole book is Trinitarian to the core. All its teaching is built on the assumption of the Trinity and its allusions to the Trinity are frequent cursory, easy and confident in a word. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are fundamental proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. They turn to Matthew three.

Matthew chapter 3, and it's certainly a parallel passage to Genesis chapter 1. What do we find in Genesis chapter 1? But the triune God saying, let us make man. Isn't that what we find?

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The spirit was brooding over the waters. John 1 3 tells us that Christ was the active agent in creation. So, in Genesis 1 we have, let us make man.

In Matthew 3 we have God, the triune, saying, let us redeem man. Matthew chapter 3, in verse 16. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened 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 all three persons of the triune God are displayed here in Matthew three and it is no accident because the very next activity of our Savior is to go from this place into the wilderness to be tempted and then ultimately to go and embark on his public ministry in the salvation of sinners. These are some explicit Trinitarian references. We've already alluded to Matthew 28 and verses 18 to 20.

Turn over to Romans chapter 8. for a moment. Romans chapter 8, just looking at some general references where all three persons are brought into the text of Scripture to demonstrate that God is in fact triune. Romans chapter 8, verse 11. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

Backing up for just a moment to verse 9. Sorry about that. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not his not talking about two different spirits.

There's a spirit of God, a spirit of Christ, talking about the one in the same spirit that can be called the spirit of God or the spirit of Christ. All three persons are extent. All three persons are present in the life of sanctification for the believer. First Corinthians, Chapter 12, in the context of giving the spiritual gifts.

First Corinthians chapter twelve verses four to six. 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.

Generally speaking, in the New Testament, references to the Lord refer to Jesus. References to God refer to the Father. There are some exceptions to that, but that's sort of a general interpretative rule as you approach the New Testament and interpret these things in a Trinitarian fashion. 2 Corinthians 13, 14, perhaps one of the most famous benedictions used in the Church, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. We've already seen the Trinity in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 to 14.

You may turn to Ephesians chapter 2, beginning in verse 8, verse 17. Ephesians 2, 17, and he came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through him, through Christ, we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Again, we're being very selective with the data here.

We're not looking at every single text. This is a specimen, a list of passages that bear upon this subject. Notice in Ephesians 4, at verse 4, There is one body and one spirit, just as you are 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. one body and one spirit, one Lord and one God and father of all Hebrews chapter nine verse fourteen Hebrews chapter nine verse fourteen. I really recommend that you turn to these passages.

There's something helpful about actually turning and seeing with the memory process. The more senses that you involve in a particular activity, the more you're able to Remember the data, so that if you meet a Jehovah's Witness and he says the Bible doesn't say there's a trinity, you can answer him. The Bible also doesn't use the official name Jehovah. It is an English transliteration of the sacred name, so you can throw that right under the witness's lap.

Hebrews chapter nine, verse fourteen, how much more so the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. First Peter chapter one in verse two. First Peter chapter one in verse two. elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And Jude 20 and 21.

Jude 20 and 21. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So, those are some specific Trinitarian references, or triadic references, where all three persons are mentioned. As I said earlier, we'll not spend time looking at the deity of the Father, everybody accepts that, but

The Deity of the Son

let's move on to the deity of the Son. There are explicit assertions. In fact, on Wednesday night, in our study in Titus 2, 13, we saw that Paul applies the name God to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

There are several other instances in the New Testament where the name God or the word God, Theos, is applied to the Lord Jesus. I should ask for a show of hands if anybody here was here Wednesday night, if they remember those references. John 1.1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. If you wonder who the word is, just drop down to verse 14.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. John 20 and 28. The biggest objector, the one we call doubting Thomas, the biggest cynic of the bunch, was able to confess, my Lord and my God, when he saw Jesus Christ.

John 20. and verse twenty eight Romans chapter nine and verse five Titus chapter two and verse thirteen Hebrews chapter one and verse eight and second Peter chapter one verse one. So the name God is applied specifically to the Lord Jesus. Also first John five twenty. I neglected to put that in there.

But those are some texts that speak or explicit assertions of Jesus, of Jesus deity, also the divine functions of Christ. He is the creator, according to John 1, 3 and Hebrews 1, 3 and Colossians 1, 15 to 20. Jesus made all things. Who does that but God alone?

Christ is also the governor or the one who is sovereign in Providence. Colossians 117 says that in him, in Christ, all things consist. In Hebrews one, it says that he upholds all things by the word of his power. Who but God alone does that?

The divine attributes are listed in the New Testament concerning the Lord Jesus. He is eternal. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus became flesh.

Jesus always was God. Isaiah nine that we read earlier refers to him as what as everlasting father. That promise concerning his birthplace in Bethlehem, Ephrathah, in Micah five, verse two, says one is coming forth from you who's going forth are from of old. from everlasting. So, the Scripture teaches us that Jesus is eternal.

The Scripture teaches us that Jesus is omniscient. That means he knows everything. When you read the letters to the churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3, you see that. Christ says, I know your works.

I know the good that you do. I know the bad that you are doing. I am he who searches the hearts, he says to the churches. He is omnipresent.

That doesn't mean his physical body is everywhere. His physical body is locally present at the right hand of God the Father. But as God, he is able to be with us even to the end of the age. When there are two or three of us gathered together, Jesus is there with us in the midst of his people.

He is omnipotent. That means he is all powerful and he is immutable. That means he does not change. I, the Lord, do not change. with Jehovah's Statement in Malachi 3.

Well, the writer of the Hebrews, who I believe was Paul, says with reference to Christ, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. So those things that are attributed to God are attributed to Jesus Christ, what we call the attributes of God. And then, of course, as we see his earthly ministry, he multiplied the loaves, the fishes, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he forgave sins. Remember that instance when he is at a place and he's preaching and they begin, or the friends of the paralytic lower the man down in amongst the people there.

And Jesus tells the man, your sins are forgiven you. What do the Pharisees do? They grumble among themselves, saying, Who but God alone can forgive sins? Spurgeon says in his comment on that particular passage, he likes to think that when the when the roof was opened up, some of the dust fell on the heads of the Pharisees, those self-righteous men, as they were sitting there contemplating who but God alone could forgive sins.

So what does Jesus say? Which is easier to say to the man your sins are forgiven or take up your mat and walk? Well, what is easier to say? It's easier to say your sins are forgiven because we cannot verify that, right?

So what does Jesus do? Take up your mat and walk. You see, we look at that and we say, what a miracle. No, the miracle was that he forgave sin.

The exhibition of that or the proof of that was that he enabled the man to take up his mat and walk away from there. Only God forgives sin. The Roman priest does not. Christ, our high priest, does because he's God most high.

The Personality and Deity of the Spirit

And then the Holy Spirit, one man as well said, with respect to modern deviations from Orthodox doctrine, it is popularly said that we are obligated to defend the deity, not the personality of the son and the personality, not the deity of the spirit. In other words, what is under debate with reference to Jesus is his deity. There's precious few anymore that deny the historical Jesus. I mean, that's just not the good option at this point.

There are precious few that deny the historical Jesus. There are many who deny the deity of the historical Jesus. There are those who acknowledge that there is a Holy Spirit spoken of in the scripture, but the personality of the spirit is under attack. And by that, I don't mean he's got a winsomeness about him.

He's a winning personality. It means his personhood, the fact that he is indeed a person. Well, the scripture tells us that he communicates and instructs. John fourteen, John sixteen, first Corinthians chapter twelve.

Obviously, if he communicates and he instructs, he knows things. In fact, he knows the deep things of God. According to first Corinthians chapter two, he speaks. Jehovah's Witnesses refer to him as an active force, God's active force.

No, he's a speaking, communicating, directing, guiding being. He is personal. He can be lied to. Acts chapter 5.

You should probably turn here. I like to think everybody has a mind like a bear trap and they always catch everything and they will be able to refer to these texts six months down the road when they do speak to the modern Aryans. But I can't always assume that. Acts 5 highlights both the personality and the deity. of the Holy Spirit.

The spirit is a person you can lie to him. The spirit as a person is God. You have not lied to men, Ananias and Sapphira. You have lied to God himself.

Do not miss this. He can be grieved. I've already referred to that in Isaiah 63, verse 10, Ephesians 4, verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

He can be grieved. He can be quenched according to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. He intercedes for his people with groanings that we don't even understand. According to Romans chapter 8 verses 26 and 27, he directs the church What happens in the church that's in Antioch according to Acts chapter 13?

The Spirit comes to those men who are fasting and praying and he says, separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have. You see, the Spirit is the active agent in the missionary enterprise. The Spirit working through the church. The Spirit working and directing through his local bodies of Christ's people.

He directs certain men into certain places to preach the gospel. It is the Spirit who is active in directing the church. And then he gives gifts to the church, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And he gives these gifts according to his will.

Not according to our desire, not according to what we want, but he gives according to his will. He regenerates, according to John chapter 3. You must be born of the Spirit. And then he illumines, according to Ephesians chapter one, verses seventeen and eighteen.

He is included in those triadic references where the father, the son and the spirit are referred to. He is omnipresent, according to Psalm 139. I can't go to hell without your spirit being there. I can't ascend into heaven without your spirit being there.

The spirit is omnipresent and the spirit is omnipotent. That means he is all powerful. He is all strong and glorious and Luke chapter one, verse thirty five. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore, also that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God. Well, there in a nutshell is just a sketch, as I said, and when preachers say, hey, I have a lot to say, a lot of times it means they really don't. This is an instance where I really do. We could be here for several hours on this doctrine of the Trinity.

It is crucial, but hopefully you've got enough from this sketch to get in your minds and your hearts what the Bible does say. And again, if you keep those two definitions in your head, there is but one only the living and true God. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Deuteronomy 6, 4. 1 Corinthians 8, 4. One God. The rest of the passages that we referred to, these triadic ones, these tri-union, the triune God being spoken of, and then the specific texts that deal with the deity of Jesus Christ and the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit. The material on this subject is vast, it's glorious, and we do well to study it, to learn it and to know it.

Application and Conclusion

Three thoughts and then we close. First,

Importance of the Doctrine

the importance of the doctrine. Again, the knowledge of God. When Jesus prayed his high priestly prayer in John 17, 3, he said, And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. If we don't understand the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, we don't know God.

See, there's a common misconception out there that Judaism and Christianity and Islam, they're all theistic or monotheistic religions. And that, you know, when all is said and done, they're very similar. No, they're not. No, they're not.

The Jews reject the triune God. The Muslims reject the triune God. You cannot be saved rejecting the triune God. We must know him.

With reference to the atonement, one of Athanasius arguments for the deity of Jesus Christ was this. Only God himself can save fallen man. Jesus is God, because only God himself can save fallen man. What about justification by faith alone?

We are putting our trust. We are putting our faith. We are putting our confidence, not in a creature, not in a God. but God most high, even the Lord Jesus Christ. I think Turretin is right on.

And maybe you might think, wait a minute, I don't know. We sound intolerant as it is. Well, you know what, brethren, we better be intolerant when it comes to these things. We had better be jealously intolerant when it comes to these things.

The truth about God, about salvation, about Jesus, about atonement. We must be intolerant. We do not allow for margins of error in these things. Jesus said unequivocally in John 8, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

If you do not believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus, you will die in your sins. Turretin is right. 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.

The Trinity and Worship

A second observation is worship. Worship. We need to understand this triune God as we come in to worship Him. Because when we know him, when we understand him, then our worship is informed and it's right.

John 4, 21 to 24. When Christ is instructing an adulterous woman about the worship of the triune God, I actually believe he is insisting that we do approach God as a triune God. John 4. Verse 21, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father.

Just to set the stage for a moment. Remember, Jesus was weary. He came to this well and he asked the woman for a drink. What does the woman say?

You, a Jew man talking to me, a Samaritan woman. Jesus says, go call your husband. She says, I don't have a husband. He says, you're right.

The man you're currently with isn't your husband either. She was an adulteress. He found her out in her sin. He showed her her wickedness.

So what was her response? Hey, where do we worship? She changed the subject. Isn't that what happens?

We get found out in our sin and we say, what about those two nuts? Huh? Boy, you are an evil, adulterous wretch. You know it's the case.

And you say, yeah, boy, I wonder if it's going to rain today. That's what she does. Look at verse sixteen, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband.

You have well said, I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband. In that you spoke truly. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where you were one ought to worship.

You see how she does that. It's not like Jesus is caught unawares. He's not saying, wow, she really got one over on me. But what does he do?

OK, you want to talk about worship? I'll talk to you about worship. And that's when he introduces this subject. Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father.

You worship what you do not know. We were. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father.

Notice this is seeking such to worship him. I dare say he was seeking this particular woman at this particular time to be one of these worshipers. And then Christ makes this statement in John 4, 24. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Now, the first time I ever preached this, I took the view that spirit and truth meant the heart and the head. You have to bring not only your knowledge, but your burning passion to the Lord. I don't think that's what's in view. I don't think that's a heretical position.

I don't think it's a damnable position, but I actually think Jesus may be referring to the trinity of God. God, the Father, is spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit, the Holy Spirit, and in truth. Who is the truth?

I am the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus said. What he is saying is that there is this shift coming. Worship is no longer localized here in Jerusalem on this particular mountain, but the hour is. The hour has come. where the worship of God will be universal.

Not that everybody will be saved, but men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. And they will come to this God through the Spirit, by the mediation of Jesus Christ, and worship this glorious God. Gregory, one of the Cappadocians in the early church, said, No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am and I am illumined by the splendor of the three. No sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one.

When I think of any one of the three, I think of him as the whole and my eyes are filled and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me. I cannot grasp the greatness of that one. So as to attribute a greater greatness to the rest. When I contemplate the three together, I see but one torch and cannot divide or measure out the undivided light.

Having a proper view of God ought to affect the way that we worship God. One man in a book on the Holy Trinity recently says that much of the Western world is practically modalistic in their worship. And I haven't got my mind around that. I don't understand why he says that, but I suspect it's true.

I suspect that we focus in on the one and we forget about the glory of the three. We're not like Gregory, that when I see the one, I think of the three. When I'm surrounded by the three, I'm going back to the one. It's glorious God in triunity, in glory, in majesty.

And then the third observation, I referenced this this morning.

The Trinity as Pattern for Community

The Trinity serves as a pattern for our treatment of others. The Trinity serves as our pattern for the treatment of others. The same Robert Leatham in his book on the Holy Trinity says the father advances his kingdom by means of his son. The son glorifies the father.

The spirit speaks not of himself, but of the son and the father glorifies the son. All will call Jesus Lord by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the father. Each of the three delights in the good of the others. Man, that's what we need.

We need the doctrine of the Trinity to show shape the way that we relate to one another. Imagine if a husband and a wife related to one another the way the father and the son relate to one another. Imagine if the Church of Jesus Christ, instead of keeping people at a distance, was actually embracing and loving and esteeming one another as better than themselves. Imagine if in our Christian witness, we actually were loving and were joyful and were peaceful and more patient and more gentle.

You know what it describes? The fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians chapter five. That's a description of who God is. He is loving, he is joyful, he is peaceful, he is gentle, he is long suffering, he is self-controlled.

Brethren, the Trinity serves as the pattern for our treatment of others. God, the father, is not acting contrary to the son. The son does not act contrary to the father. The son willingly submits himself to the father.

The son willingly carries out the father's will. And ladies, I dare say that's your pattern and your example as wives in the home. submit to your own husband's house to the Lord. And then the very comparison is that Jesus Christ submits to his own father. And we as men, we ought not to be tyrants.

God doesn't. I mean, there's times when he rules us with a heavy hand because we need it. We get out of line. He's loving, he's joyful, he's peaceful, he's gentle, he's patient.

We need to image that. We need to bear forth that sort of a representation of our God. I said three, one more.

The Comfort of the Doctrine

The comfort of this doctrine. This is where the Baptist Confession has something on the Westminster Confession. You know anything about the history of the two? The Westminster was written in the 1644s by the Westminster Divines.

Several men, many, many men met for several years to work out a doctrinal statement. You see, theology mattered then. You can tell because they went to those lengths to write doctrinal statements. I could just hear that today.

You mean you want to meet together and write theology? Why? That's the mindset of our present era. Anti-theology, anti-intellectual, anti-mental, anti-use the mind to actually seek those things which are above.

Let's just love Jesus. Well, let's ask the question, which Jesus are you loving? That's why we need theology. That's why we need the Bible.

That's why we need good creeds and confessions. 1644, the Westminster Confession was written. 1689, the Act of Toleration under William and Mary. So the Baptists basically took Westminster's Confession and, dare I say it, they baptized it. That means they took out the infant baptism. They changed a bit of church government, but substantially the two documents are the same.

They're the same on the doctrine of the Trinity or on the doctrine of God, except the Baptists add this. Which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence upon him? I love that. This is not just some mysterious mathematical conundrum that baffles theologians.

If that's what you've gotten tonight, please forgive me. I want you to get that this doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence upon him. That's what you need to take from the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank you for the Word of God, and thank you for your person, and thank you for your glory and your majesty, your being, rather, in the three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Cause us to reflect upon this truth and cause us to know our Bibles. Cause us to be able to reject the heresies that that that infringe upon this glorious truth. We know there is what but one true and living God, but there are those three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

These three are are the same in substance, equal in power and glory, and God made this indeed be that foundation upon all. upon which we have communion with you and our comfortable dependence upon you. Go with each one of us now. God, watch over us and protect us and just help us to live as your people in this lower world. And we pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; 16:2-13; 22:11-16; 31:11-13
• Judges 13:20-22
• Psalm 2:8; 110:1; 139:7-8
• Isaiah 6:7; 9:6-7; 63:10
• Micah 5:2
• Malachi 3:6
• Matthew 3:16; 28:18-20
• Luke 1:35
• John 1:1; 1:3; 1:14; 3:5-8; 4:16; 4:21-24; 8:24; 14; 16; 17:3; 20:28
• Acts 5; 13:2
• Romans 8:9; 8:11; 8:26-27; 9:5
• 1 Corinthians 2:10; 8:4; 12; 12:4-6
• 2 Corinthians 13:14
• Galatians 5:22-23
• Ephesians 1:3-14; 1:17-18; 2:17; 4:4; 4:30
• Colossians 1:15-20; 1:17
• 1 Thessalonians 5:19
• Titus 2:13
• Hebrews 1:3; 1:8; 9:14
• 1 Peter 1:2
• 2 Peter 1:1
• 1 John 5:20
• Jude 20-21
• Revelation 2-3