Theological term
Procession of the Spirit
4 sermons · All terms
2LBC - Chapter 2 - Of God and the Holy Trinity
What does it mean that God is one, simple, immutable, immense, and triune — and why does any of it matter for Christian worship? This confession study works through the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith Chapter 2 ("Of God and the Holy Trinity"), tracing the three movements of the chapter: God's essential glory in paragraph 1, God's transcendent relations in paragraph 2, and God's triune majesty in paragraph 3. Along the way, foundational interpretive principles for speaking rightly about God are established — the legitimate use of logical consequences from Scripture, the necessity of extra-biblical vocabulary to guard biblical truth, and the reading of anthropomorphic language according to the meaning rather than the letter. The session closes with a direct application: the doctrine of God is not speculative labor but the very foundation of communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and of the creature's comfortable dependence upon him.
CLIP: The Trinity in 2 Minutes
The doctrine of the Trinity is not a division of the divine essence into three parts, but one infinite and undivided substance eternally subsisting as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The confession's language moves deliberately between the oneness and the threeness of God — the Father unbegotten, the Son eternally begotten, the Holy Spirit proceeding from both — holding the unity and the distinction together without confusion. This doctrine is not speculative theology but the very foundation of the Christian's communion with God and the ground of confident, joyful worship.
The Nature of the Holy Spirit, Part 2
Jesus' promise in John 14:17–18 — that the Spirit of truth cannot be received by the world, yet dwells with and will be in his disciples — grounds the church's dependence on sovereign grace for all gospel ministry. The sermon works through the doctrine of inseparable operations and appropriations to protect both the unity of the Godhead and the distinction of persons, before applying the Spirit's indwelling to the perseverance of the saints and the sufficiency of the gospel. The closing exhortation presses both believers and unbelievers: the Spirit abides forever, justification is by faith alone, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed — not merely forgiveness extended — to all who come to him.
The Meeting with Nicodemus, Part 2
John 3:4–10 confronts every hearer with the absolute necessity of regeneration before any entrance into the kingdom of God. Working through Nicodemus's proud misunderstanding and Christ's patient explanation, this exposition argues that the new birth is entirely God's sovereign work — initiated by the Holy Spirit, prefigured in Ezekiel 36 and Deuteronomy 30, and entirely prior to saving faith. The sermon also draws out the Trinitarian theology embedded in Christ's wind analogy, showing that the Spirit's sovereign, effectual work in regeneration reveals who God is, not merely what He does.