The God of Inscrutable Tri-Personality

Review and Introduction to the Fourth Assertion

0:06 Our study in the Word of God this morning is the sixth in a series which I have entitled, Here We Stand. The substance of this series is meant to be a brief confessional overview, a declaration of what we as a congregation understand the Word of God to teach. The purpose, of course, is to confirm, to settle mature believers in their understanding of these truths, to initiate or introduce newcomers to these truths, and to inform those of you who may be rightly described as onlookers, who wonder what this church is all about, to inform you as to that which we understand the Word of God to teach in these pivotal areas. The method? It is a series of topical studies ranging over five major areas of biblical truth. Thus far, we've covered the first, the book.

1:05 We believe and obey. A book we believe to be in every part the Word of God and the Word of man. Because it is the Word of God, it is entirely accurate and authoritative and without error. Because it is the Word of man, it needs to be received.

1:25 It needs to be received as such and understood in the patterns in which men communicate to one another. But because it is the Word of God, we therefore submit to its authority and seek to follow its teaching wherever that teaching may lead us. And now we are presently engaged in the second major area of concern, namely the God whom we worship and confess. For the great theme of this blessing...

1:55 The book is not man, but God Himself. He is introduced to us in the opening words, in the beginning, God. And He is the great theme of this book through to the last chapter of the book of the Revelation. And of course, we cannot give an exhaustive exposition on what is commonly called the attributes of God, the characteristics of God.

2:20 And I have merely sought to be selective, bringing into focus some of those aspects, bringing into focus some of those aspects, bringing into focus some of those aspects, bringing into focus some of those aspects, which desperately need to be confessed in our generation. Thus far, we have seen that the God whom we worship and confess is the God of absolute perfection. Secondly, He is the God of unrivalled sovereignty. Thirdly, He is the God of infinite goodness.

2:46 And now, today, we come to the fourth and last subheading of this second major division, the God whom we worship and confess, And the assertion that I wish to make today is this. Scripture reveals him as the God of inscrutable tri-personality. Now don't be fearful of the words, I shall explain them.

3:11 He is the God of inscrutable tri-personality. Let me explain the title to our study. When something is inscrutable, what do we mean? Or what do we mean when we say it is inscrutable?

3:28 Well, what do you do when you scrutinize someone or something? Here's a banker. Someone has just given him ten $20 bills. As he feels them and looks at them, his trained eye suspects that they may not be genuine Federal Reserve notes.

3:45 In other words, they may not be genuine government paper. That's all the money is now, is paper. But there is a genuine government paper and a counterfeit government. And so what does the bank teller do?

3:58 Well, he scrutinizes that $20 bill. That is, he carefully examines it. He closely examines it so as to ascertain all of its details. And what he will probably do is take out a $20 bill that he knows is a bona fide U.S. minted Federal Reserve note and under magnifying glass he will carefully compare the details. The details of the two bills. He is scrutinizing it. He is giving close examination to all of the details.

4:32 Or perhaps you kids have been out playing. And as you come in for your meal, your mom or dad says now, son, daughter, Harry, Pete, Joanne, Sally, wash your hands. And about 32 seconds later you appear at the table. And mom or dad says, have you washed your hands?

Explaining the Title: Inscrutable and Tri-Personality

4:51 And you say, yes. They say, let me see. And what do they do? They scrutinize.

4:55 And what you merely did was ran a few water over the palms of your hands. But when mom or dad turns the hands over, lo and behold, dirt is on the back, under the fingernails, up your wrist, under your sleeve. And so after mom or dad scrutinized your wash job, you are promptly sent back to the bathroom to complete it. Now, when they scrutinized your hands, what did they do?

5:17 They examined them very carefully. You may laugh at this, but the last thing I always did right through high school when I went out the front door in the morning was to have my mother scrutinize my ears. I once sat next to a fellow who had perpetually dirty ears. And it so turned me off that the last thing I did right through high school when I towered over my mother going out the door was, mom, scrutinize my ears.

5:39 Check my ears. So now you've got an idea what it means to scrutinize. To scrutinize does not mean simply to look at something and give it a passing glance. It means to examine it carefully with a view to understand what it means to scrutinize.

5:53 A view to understanding details. Now, I've used the term this morning. The God whom we worship and confess is the God of inscrutable tri-personality. When something is inscrutable, it is non-scrutable.

6:12 You cannot closely examine it and ascertain all of the details. So on the very threshold of our study this morning, I want to make it known that we cannot come to examine the biblical doctrine of the God who is three in one and one in three in such a way as to analyze all of its details. We come to a veil of mystery. We come to a point where we have to say, oh God, though this is not irrational, it is supra-rational.

6:48 It goes beyond my faculties to grasp. And therefore, I will not give to you a study this morning that will send you out saying, oh, that's perfectly simple, perfectly clear. God is one in three. God is three in one.

Method and Simple Statement of the Doctrine

7:03 Anyone can understand that. What I hope will happen is that our hearts will be caught up in worship and awe and wonder. And that we shall be found, if not physically so, in our spirits prostrate before the mystery of the God who is one in three and three in one. So much for the word inscrutable.

7:25 Now the word tri-personality. And I've used that term because it is the most helpful term to lay out the biblical teaching. The God whom we worship and confess is not only the one true and living God who is absolutely perfect, unrivaled in his sovereignty, and the God who is characterized by infinite goodness, but there is within this Godhead not a simple unity, but there exists in this one being three subsistences. For lack of a better word, we have to say three persons.

8:08 Not persons in the sense that we are persons, but persons in the sense that I shall further describe from the word of God. So much for the title. Now, by what method will I attempt to lay out this inscrutable mystery of the one in three and the three in one? Well, first of all, I want to give you a simple statement of the doctrine.

8:32 Then, secondly, I want to lay before you the basis of this doctrine. Then, thirdly, a little bit of the history of this doctrine. And, fourthly, two practical implications of this doctrine. First of all, then, a simple statement of the doctrine that the God whom we worship is the God of inscrutable tri-personality.

8:57 And I shall take my simple statement from the Shorter Catechism. And I do that for the simple reason that there is nothing in uninspired literature which more simply gives to us, or gives to us in more simple form, the bare bones of this biblical teaching. Question number five in the Catechism is this. How many gods, are there more gods than one?

9:22 The answer is, there is but one only, the living and true God. Question number six is, how many persons are there in the Godhead? And the answer is, there are three persons in the Godhead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

9:40 And these three are one God. The same in essence, equal in power and in glory. Now let me exegete that answer of the Shorter Catechism, because it gives to us the fruit of the richest theological perception of the 17th century with its eye backwards to all of the heresies with which the Church had been plagued, as well as its eye downward on all of the rich confessional statements that the Church had experienced up till that point. Notice the points of emphasis.

10:18 There are three persons in the Godhead. There is but one Godhead. Second point is that within that Godhead there are three persons. Third point is that those persons have identity.

10:33 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But that those three persons form a unity. And these three are one God. And fourthly, or fifthly, that there is an equality among those persons.

10:47 The same in essence. Equal in power and in glory. And when you have mastered the definition or description of the Shorter Catechism concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, you have the bare bones, the essential simple statement of the Biblical teaching. Three persons in the one Godhead.

11:10 Who are they? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are not three gods, but one God. They all share equally in the divine essence, in power, and in glory.

Basis 1: Pure Special Revelation

11:24 And then the definition in the London Confession is even better than the simple definition in the Westminster Confession, and I shall have a cause to refer to it later. Now the points of emphasis that need to be made are these in this simple statement of the doctrine. The God whom we worship, though He is but one true and living God, is not a simple unity. We are not Unitarians.

11:51 We do not worship a God who in His being is a simple unity. We worship the God who in His essence is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we do not worship three gods when we worship the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nor do we worship a great God, the Father, and a little lesser God, the Son, and a little lesser God, the Spirit.

12:19 No, no. We worship the God who is one, but who is Father, Son, and Spirit, and each person of the Godhead is equal in His divine essence, in His power, and in His glory. Now those are the great landmarks of the biblical doctrine of this mystery, this inscrutable mystery, of the one in three and the three in one. Now, secondly, what is the basis of such a doctrine?

12:49 You say, Pastor Martin, you've just quoted a confession. I thought you people believed the Bible. Well, we do. And the confession is just an effort, an attempt to articulate in simple terms the whole teaching of the Word of God.

Basis 2: Four Categories of Biblical Data Forcing the Doctrine

13:04 We come now to the basis of this doctrine. And the first thing I want to assert is this. It is a doctrine of pure and special revelation. The 19th Psalm, says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.

13:23 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth forth knowledge. In Romans chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says that from the creation of the world, God's Godhead, His everlasting power may be known. In other words, God has revealed Himself in what we commonly call general revelation. But the doctrine of the inscrutable mystery of the Trinity is not a doctrine of general revelation.

13:55 It is a doctrine of pure special revelation. In other words, if God had not revealed it by the Spirit through the Word, we should never have discovered it. When we look out at God's handiwork, that He is powerful, that He is above, and before His handiwork, that He rules over His handiwork, these basic elements of true theism, the true doctrine of God, can be known from creation. In fact, man is rendered inexcusable when he does not live in the light of that which can be known about God.

14:34 But one could ponder for ten thousand millennia the work of God's creation if one had the power to penetrate all of the mysteries of the Adam. If one could traverse all of the galaxies of the universe, he could never discover this mystery that the one God, Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the three comprise the one true and living God. It is the Scriptures alone which confront us with this high, this inscrutable mystery. Well then, having asserted that the basis of the doctrine is pure, special revelation, what is the biblical data which forces this doctrine upon us? And I use that term purposely. There are statements, propositions, descriptions of God in His being and in His works, which literally force upon us the doctrine of the Trinity. And at this point, I want every believer to put on his thinking cap, to take out his pencil if necessary, and you ought, if you are to understand what is revealed,

16:02 be able to give to anyone who asks you these four categories of biblical truth which force the doctrine of the Trinity upon us. The Scripture says that every one of us is to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, being ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us for a reason of the hope that is in us. It is incumbent upon you, child of God, to be able to give a reasonable and biblical statement of this inscrutable mystery. Now, the biblical data which force the doctrine upon us is ranged under four simple headings.

16:43 Here they are. Number one, the repeated assertions in the Bible of the strictest monotheism. Mono, one, theism, God. The Scriptures repeatedly assert in the Old and the New Testaments that there is but one true and living God.

17:03 We are given to understand in the first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Jehovah is speaking as the one true and living God and condemns any multiplication of gods. And throughout the Old Testament, the sin for which the judgment of God fell upon Israel again and again and again was the cursed sin of idolatry. In the New Testament, the assertions come with equal force.

17:33 There is but one God. Now, that's the first category of biblical revelation. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a strictly monotheistic book. No man can read the Bible and take it seriously and end up worshipping more than one God.

17:54 Now, there is a second category of biblical truth. The repeated assertions in the Bible of the Godhood of the Father, of the Son, or the Word, and the Holy Spirit. The same Bible that confronts us from Genesis to Revelation with the strictest monotheism, one God, confronts us with the Godhood of one who is called the Father, one who is called the Word, or the Son, and one who is called the Holy Spirit. The names, works, and worship due to the one true God are repeatedly given to one who is called the Father, to one who is called the Word, or the Son, and to one who is called the Holy Spirit. Now, obviously it would take me weeks to go over all the biblical materials. They have been ably set forth in numerous documents of Christian theology. But you get the point.

19:02 The same book that says one God, worship more than one God, and you are guilty of idolatry, that same book confronts us with a person called the Father to whom the name, or to whom the names, and the works of God are ascribed. It confronts us with one who is called the Word, to whom the names, and works, and worship of God are ascribed. And one who is called the Spirit, or the Holy Spirit, to whom the names, the words, and the works of God are ascribed. John chapter 1 is a clear example of this.

19:36 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Well, who is this strange personage who is in the beginning with God? He is distinct from God, and yet he himself is God.

19:55 This one spoken of in John 1.14. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And when we come to the end of the book of John, we find a Jew ruled in the strictest monotheism of the Old Testament, a monotheism all the while in his earthly ministry, confirmed by the Lord Jesus.

20:19 Yet, we find this person, Thomas, at the feet of this incarnate Word, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, giving him the names and worship of deity. Ha-kuriosmu kai ha-theosmu The Lord of me and the God of me. And what does Jesus of Nazareth do? He says, Blessed are you, having seen you believe.

20:45 Blessed are they who, never having seen, believe. He accepts that worship. The one who says there is none good but God only, the one who prayed to the Father, the one who asserts the strictest monotheism is receiving names and worship due to the Godhead alone. And that's but one sampling.

21:09 So you've got two categories thus far. How is this doctrine forced upon the consciences of the people of God? Category number one, the Scriptures assert the strictest monotheism. Category number two, the repeated assertions of the Godhood of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit.

21:29 Category number three, the repeated assertions that the three are distinct persons. Now, not persons as we know persons. Every person we know is an entity in himself. He may be part of a family.

21:46 He may be an identical twin. He may even be a Siamese twin. But he's still a complete independent entity. He has family connections.

21:55 He has solidarity with the human race and all the rest. I'm fully aware of that. But as a personality, a rational, thinking, feeling, sentient creature, there is something peculiar to us as persons that is not true of the persons of the Godhead. But, there is an I-Thou relationship between these three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit.

22:20 For instance, we read in that classic passage in John 1, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. He was alongside of God. So that the Word was distinct from God.

22:37 The same was in the beginning with God. Further on in the Gospel of John, Jesus could speak in John 14, 16, in this kind of language. John 14, 16, I will pray the Father. He didn't say I'll pray to myself.

22:52 I'll pray the Father. He shall give you another Comforter, that is the Spirit, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth. You see this I-Thou relationship? I will pray the Father.

23:06 He will send the Comforter. Now there are many passages that fall into this category. Repeated assertions that the three are distinct persons. One other example, on the day of Pentecost, we read in Acts 2, Peter's preaching and he says, He, Jesus Christ, being by the right hand of God exalted, that's the Father, hath sent forth this, the Holy Spirit, which ye now see and hear.

23:37 The Son has not become the Father. The Father has not become the Spirit. There are not just three different modes of representations of the one God, like an actor, the one actor, may wear three different masks while he fulfills three different parts in his stage play. No, no.

23:55 It was the person, the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, who was exalted to the right hand of the non-incarnate Father, and from the Father and the Son was sent forth the Spirit. So the Spirit was here in a way that the Son and the Father were not. And that brings us to, to the fourth category of truth, the repeated assertions that these distinctions are within the one divine essence. The repeated assertions that these distinctions that are very real, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit is not the Son, but there is a fourth category of verses, the repeated assertions that these distinctions are within the one divine essence. And the classic text is Matthew chapter 28 and verse 18. This text stands as a constant bulwark against every anti-Trinitarian thought that has ever raised its ugly, rationalistic head in the church of Christ. When our Lord Jesus Christ was giving what has commonly been called the Great Commission, He says to the apostles in verse 19, Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, now notice the language carefully,

25:25 baptizing them into the name, singular.

25:31 He doesn't say baptizing them into the names, plural, as though there were many gods. Remember, name is revelatory of person and of character. But into the name, that is, into identification with the one true and living God. But notice, baptizing them into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

26:04 One name, three persons. And the language forces upon us this concept, that within the divine essence there are, There are the three persons, but the three persons comprise the one divine being. The name, the name of the God who is Father, who is Son, and who is Holy Spirit.

26:33 Now, dear people, those four categories of verses are the reasons, or the reason, why the church, through its history, has confessed, as we confessed this morning, its belief, its belief in the one true and living God, as a God of inscrutable, tri-personality. Have you got the four categories? Category number one, the strictest monotheism, there is but one true and living God. Category number two, the repeated assertions of the Godhood of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

27:12 Category number three, the repeated assertions that all three are distinct persons, not just different manifestations for a period of time, or for the accomplishment of a task, but inherent in the Godhood. And that's what the theologians mean when they talk about the ontological trinity. That is, God in Himself has always been Father, Son, or Word, and Holy Spirit. And whatever changes the incarnation made, when the second person took to himself a true humanity, there was no inherent change in the Godhead.

27:48 God always has and always will be that which He has always been, one in three, and three in one. And then the fourth category, the repeated assertions, that these distinctions are within the one divine essence. It is the reverent believing treatment of the Word of God, which has led the people of God to confess this truth, and follow closely. Every attack upon this truth, ancient and modern, is an attack that arises, arises out of proud, rationalistic minds that will not bow to the dictums of Holy Scripture.

28:30 May I repeat that? Every attack upon this doctrine, ancient and modern, arises from a proud, rationalistic mind that will not be subject to the dictums of Holy Scripture.

28:49 A person looks at those four categories of things, and looks at the truth, and says, I can't understand how it can be, therefore, will disrupt one of the categories. My friend, when you can take the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and squeeze them into your little fifteen-by-four-foot backyard pool, then you can squeeze the inscrutability of the being of God into your little pea-head.

29:22 And though there has been a guise of respectability and honesty, and in some cases, a desire to make the Christian message more palatable to men, at the heart of all objection to this doctrine is not careful exegesis of the Word of God. It is unclusified, carnal pride in the face of the clear teaching of the Word of God. Well, so much for the simple statement of the doctrine, so much for this broad outline of the basis of the doctrine. Now, briefly, what is the history of this doctrine?

30:00 You see, God's truth comes to us in history. There's that little seed in Genesis 3.15, God promising that He will take the initiative to bruise the head of the serpent, that He will take the initiative to bring a Redeemer. The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 1.1, God, having spoken in times past in many different forms through many, hath in these last days spoken unto us in the last days, spoken unto us in the last days, spoken unto us as the proclaiming voice of the Son of God and spoken unto us in the last days. We are in a process of胸 foundation when God will reveal to us in the end of time the destiny of thisaber which He promised in His Son. In other words, there is progress in the revelations of God. First the seed, then the little seedling, then the bud, and then the full blooming truth in the face of Jesus Christ.

30:50 Well, the doctrine of the Trinity is like that. The history of the doctrine can be divided into three major categories. It is latent, in the Old Testament, who was patterned in the New Testament, and, thirdly, the history of doctrinal controversy. What do we mean when we say something is latent?

History: Latent in the Old Testament

31:04 Well, it's present, but if not invisible, it is not very visible or prominent. We talk of someone who has latent mental powers. Most of us parents feel that's true of you, our children. That if we could somehow just drive out of you or entice out of you or beat out of you or do something, your inherent mental laziness, you would make much greater strides in general intellectual attainments.

31:30 We feel that your intellectual capacities are relatively latent. They're not totally invisible, but they are in great measure inactive. That's what we mean when we talk about something being latent. Well, the doctrine of the Trinity, you see, is latent in the Old Testament.

31:46 It's there when you look at the Old Testament through the light of the New. But it was not such that it forced itself upon the consciousness of the people of God in the Old Testament. And there are wise reasons for this, we'll not go into them now. But when we turn to the Old Testament, we find at least two or three strands of latent Trinitarian teaching.

32:07 The first is this. Those plural references to the Godhead. In Genesis 1.26, we have the Word of God which says, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.

32:21 Now, I've done enough reading to know that some say that could be the plural of majesty, there could be no linguistic... I'm fully aware of that.

32:29 I've done my homework, friend. But listen. Listen. There is no good reason, linguistically or theologically, as to why that could not be a latent hint that within the one God there is this Trinity of persons.

32:47 You find a similar reference in Genesis chapter 11 and verse 7 in the incident of the Tower of Babel. Let us go down and see. Let us go down and see. So there are these references to a plurality in the Godhead.

33:02 And then secondly, the latent Trinitarianism of the Old Testament comes out in this strange personage called the Angel of Jehovah. Look at a sample passage in Genesis 16. Who is this strange Angel of Jehovah? Is he just another angel, a created being?

33:24 Well, certain things are said about him. Certain activities, certain things are said about him. These are countenance with reference to him that put him in a different category than any created being. Genesis 16, 7.

33:37 The incident of Hagar being cast out and the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain of the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, whence camest thou and whither goest thou? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord found her and the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands.

34:04 And the angel of Jehovah said, I will greatly multiply thy seed. Notice the angel of Jehovah does not say, Jehovah says, but he himself gives the pledge. The angel of Jehovah says, I will greatly multiply thy seed that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

34:27 And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shall bear a son and shall call his name Ishmael because Jehovah hath heard thy affliction and shall be as a wild ass among men. His hand shall be against every man and every man's hand shall be against him and he shall dwell over against all his brethren. And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth. For she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me?

34:57 Wherefore the well was closed, called Be'er Lahai, Be'er Lahairoi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Biret. Do you see this strange incident? The angel of Jehovah speaks as though he were Jehovah himself.

35:12 And she calls him by a divine name. And this is just typical of these incidents. You have another in Genesis 18, 1-21. Genesis 19, 1-22.

35:23 You see, this is a latent Trinitarianism. That Jehovah is not a God. He is not just the God who has a simplicity of essence. Here he appears in a physical form as the angel of Jehovah.

35:37 He receives worship. He gives covenant promises in his own name. He receives divine worship and divine titles. This is a latent doctrine of the Trinity.

35:47 And then the third category of this latent doctrine in the Old Testament are some of those messianic prophecies such as you have in Isaiah 48 and verse 16. And I quote, I quote just this one in the interest of time. Isaiah 48 and verse 16. Come ye near unto me.

36:07 Hear ye this. From the beginning I have not spoken in secret. From the time that it was, there am I. And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and his Spirit.

36:22 Here's someone who lays claim to omniscience. From the time that it was, there am I. I can speak because I fill all time and I know. And this one who makes divine claims speaks of being sent by the Lord Jehovah and by his Spirit.

History: Patent in the New Testament Redemptive Acts

36:43 And so you see there is this latent Trinitarianism. There are these seed thoughts deposited in the Old Testament revelation. But what is latent in the Old Testament becomes patent. That is obvious and plain and evident.

37:00 In the New Testament. Since God is the God of redemption, it is in that great work of redemption that the doctrine is forced upon us. Think through every pivotal redemptive activity of the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ. And notice the vigorous Trinitarianism that clusters around every key redemptive act of Christ.

37:26 What's the first? His incarnation. Turn to Luke 1. Luke chapter 1 in verse 35.

37:39 Mary has been visited by the angel. The announcement has been made that she will give birth to Messiah. She asks the question, How can this be? I have not known a man.

37:50 I have not entered that relationship which, humanly speaking, is essential to conception and to childbearing. The answer to that dilemma, verse 35, the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come, upon thee, and the power of thee most high shall overshadow thee, wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. You see what we have in that announcement at the conception of our Lord? You have not a latent Trinitarianism, but now a patent Trinitarianism.

38:31 The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, which is equal to the power, the power of the Most High overshadowing thee, and that which is begotten will be nothing less than that which shares in divine essence, Son of God.

38:47 Then the next pivotal redemptive act or point in redemptive history is the baptism of our Lord. Turn to Luke chapter 3. And here again we have a patent Trinitarian statement. You remember the incident?

39:04 John is reticent to baptize Christ. This is a sinner's, this is a sinner's ordinance. The Son of God about to formally identify Himself with sinners whom He came to save by His sinless life and by His death. He says, No, suffer it to fulfill all righteousness.

39:22 And as our Lord was being baptized, we read in verse 21 of Luke chapter 3, Now it came to pass when all the people were baptized that Jesus also having been baptized and praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon Him and a voice came out of heaven. Thou art my beloved Son. In Thee I am well pleased. The second person of the Godhead, the Redeemer of sinners, identifying Himself with sinners.

39:56 The Spirit coming upon Him in a visible form to equip Him for the task and the Father speaking from heaven His approbation of the Son. In early Christian context, controversy or discussion when people doubted the doctrine. It was common coinage to say, If you have problems with the doctrine of the Trinity, go to Jordan and there you will be taught this doctrine. This is what they meant.

40:21 There we see Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And then in our Lord's crucifixion, we read in Hebrews 9 and verse 14 that in that crucifixion there was the engagement of the whole triune Godhead to secure the resurrection of the Son of God. And then in our Lord's crucifixion, there was the redemption of sinners. Hebrews 9 and verse 14 speaking of our Lord and His death.

40:47 The writer to Hebrews says, Hebrews 9 and verse 14, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your consciences from dead works to serve the living, and the true God. Here is the second person through the eternal Spirit offering Himself up to God the Father. What of His resurrection? Christ said in John 10, 18, I have power to lay down my life.

41:25 I have power to take it up again. Romans 6, 4 tells us He was raised by the glory of the Father. Romans 8, 11 says He was raised by the Spirit. Well, did He raise Himself?

41:37 Was He raised by the Father or raised by the Spirit? Which is true? All are true. Here was the activity of the triune Godhead in this pivotal redemptive act of Christ.

41:49 And then the crowning redemptive act of Christ. And remember that. We do not stop with crucifixion and resurrection. The crowning redemptive act of Christ is the sending of the Spirit.

41:59 And what do we have there in the language of Acts chapter 2? Look at it. I made reference to this in another connection earlier. But Acts chapter 2, verse 32, This Jesus, second person of the Godhead, did God, first person, the Father, raise up whereof we are all witnesses.

42:20 Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this which ye now see and hear. So they were not to think of the gift of the Spirit as something separate from the exalted Christ at the right hand of the Father and all the resources, redemptive work that underlay that gracious gift. And so you see the doctrine that was latent in the Old Testament becomes patent in the New. In all of the pivotal redemptive activities of Christ, there is a vigorous Trinitarianism. And secondly, in all of the pivotal redemptive experiences of the people of God, there is a vigorous Trinitarianism. How are we called out of darkness into light? First Corinthians 1.9 makes it plain that it's the work of the Father.

43:11 God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son. But Jesus says that he does the calling. John 10.16, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also must I bring.

43:25 They shall hear my voice. And yet the scriptures tell us in John 3, Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot perceive or enter the kingdom of God. Well, are we called by the Father, the Son, or the Spirit? Well, formally the calling comes from God, yes. But it's a calling in connection with Christ, and a calling that is effected by the power of the Spirit. In other words, there is the gracious activity of the triune God to bring a sinner out of darkness and into light. And when we come to conscious repentance and faith and into communion with God, what is the nature of that communion? I say it is Trinitarian communion. I refer you to Acts 2 verse 18. For through him, that is Christ. I'm sorry, Ephesians 2. Did I say Acts? Ephesians 2 and verse

44:13 18. For through him, that is Christ, we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. You see, the apostle is declaring that every single person who's been incorporated into the church of Christ is incorporated into Trinitarian religious experience. It is through Christ's Spirit, unto the Father. And how are we to view ourselves sitting here this morning if we are in Christ?

44:46 How are we to view the favors and blessings of God funneling down upon our heads? Well, turn to 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Let me read a brief comment on this verse.

45:09 By a man who is commenting on this biblical mystery of the doctrine of the Trinity. 2 Corinthians 13, 14 is evidently a prayer which it would be impiety and idolatry to address to any other but God. Yet three persons are distinctly addressed and consequently are recognized as possessed of divine perfections, knowing our wants, bearing, hearing our request, and able to do what we ask. 2 Corinthians 13, 14.

45:39 Let me read a brief comment on this verse. 2 Corinthians 13, 14. Let me read a brief comment on this verse. 2 Corinthians 13, 14.

History: Articulated in Doctrinal Controversy

45:40 As the fountain of all the blessedness implied in the terms grace, love, and communion. You see the point the author is making? If we give biblical meaning to the words grace, love, and communion, those are benefits which only Godhead can impart. And if they are to be imparted to all of the people of God, then all of the people of God are viewed as under the canopy of Trinitarian grace. 2 Corinthians 13, 14.

46:11 Trinitarian grace, love, and communion. And so the doctrine is not only set before us patently in the New Testament in the pivotal redemptive acts of Christ, in the pivotal redemptive experiences of the people of God as well. And then thirdly, what is latent in the old, patent in the new, has been articulated in the history of doctrinal controversy. You see, what is the recognized consciousness of the people of God, is the consciousness of the people of God, and the consciousness of the people of God is not articulated until it's attacked. Now you've been thinking hard for about 15, 17 minutes, I hope. Let me loosen you up for just a moment with an illustration. Here's a man who has a lovely backyard. He doesn't have any stakes driven in by a surveyor. He knows his backyard by the boundaries that he mows week after week in the summer. In that

47:04 backyard, he has some lovely shade trees, he has a picnic table, he has a bird feeder, and he watches the birds come. He has some floral arrangements. He has some flowers, he has some arrangements. He thoroughly enjoys it as a place of relaxation, of legitimate diversion. He never questions that it's his backyard. But suddenly, one day, his neighbor begins to plant some trees about six feet in from where he normally stops his mowing. And he says, hey, Henry, what you doing? He says, well, I'm planting some trees in my yard. He says, whose yard? And Henry says, my yard.

47:38 And George says, ain't your yard? That's my yard. He says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's my yard. I've been glad to get six feet free mowing through the years, but I've known all along, that's not your, this is my yard. Well, what's happened between George and Henry? Well, they're having a little neighborly fuss. So what does George do? Oh, George, he goes in and gets his title to his house and his property, and he gets the surveyor's thing, and then he calls in a surveyor to resurvey it and to find the precise markings of that which belongs to himself. Now, what happened?

48:14 It was the attack upon that which he enjoyed that drove him to define his boundaries. As long as his neighbor wasn't bothering him, well, he knew what his yard was. He just enjoyed it. He didn't need to defend it. But when someone tried to encroach upon it, then he said, your yard comes right up here and not one millionth of an inch beyond it. And the stakes are drawn, and then he may have to put a fence up. Now, that's precisely what happens in the history of the church. The Holy Spirit, through the apostolic preaching, led the early church to feel comfortable with the baptismal formula of Matthew 28 and with the benediction of 2 Corinthians 13, 14. Trinitarian

49:01 life and worship pervaded the apostolic church. Even the heathen writers, or writer, spoke of this sect that would meet at dawn and sing hymns of the Lord. The Holy Spirit, through the apostolic praise, to one Jesus of Nazareth, whom they regarded as God. That's the confirming voice even of the secular historian. And you see, the church did not have to call a council to sit down and say, now what do we mean when we say we worship one God? God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, one in three, three in one. They didn't bother. They were just enjoying their backyard. They just worshiped God, Father, Son, and Spirit. They just served God, Father, Son, and Spirit. They baptized people into the name, the sacred name of the one God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. Until one day, Henry came along, or George, I forgot who was the bad neighbor, and said, hey, wait a minute, Jesus is not God. And they said, what do you mean he's not God? Oh, he's not God. He's less than

50:05 God. And then what did the church do? Often the church would then call a council, officially to do what? To take the compass, and to take the measuring stick, and to go to the biblical data, and come up with the boundaries of Christian theology, articulating precisely what was the common religious consciousness of the people of God. So when the Jehovah's Witness comes up to you looking very, very smug and said, do you know that the church created the doctrine of the Trinity in such and such a day that such and such? My friend, don't you be bluffed away by that pseudo-knowledge? That's nothing but pseudo-knowledge. You mean to tell me the backyard was not George's until Henry?

50:47 He started to plant his trees? The backyard was his the day he took title to it. It was only that attack upon the boundary that forced him to call in the surveyor. You try to tell him that it wasn't his until he had the surveyor come in and raised his fence. You resurrect some first century saint. You resurrect Thomas and tell him that nobody believed Jesus was God until the council of Nicaea declared it. He'd say, what's the matter, man, you crazy? Haven't you read what I did when I saw the Lord Jesus?

51:19 After his resurrection, I fell at his feet. Not to curse and say, oh my God, that's the meaning Jehovah's Witness puts upon it. Oh my God, he's alive. That's what they say he's doing. That's exactly what they say he's doing. You try to tell Thomas that if you could resurrect. He'd say when I fell at his feet and said, my Lord and my God, I was ascribing to him full, unqualified, unfettered resurrection. Religious homage and adoration pronounced a blessing upon me for thus ascribing it to him.

52:02 And that's where the whole church was found in its early and apostolic days, in a posture of loving prostration at the feet of the incarnate Son of God. So what's happened in the history of the church? Well, some of the first attacks were upon the nature of Christ's person. Interestingly enough, not upon his deity, but his true humanity. And we'll get into that when we come back. We receive and proclaim in the nature of the Savior. But there were attacks upon this great doctrine of the inscrutable mystery. And so Nicaea and Chalcedon and then the subsequent definitive statements, they do not create the doctrine. They simply tell us where the stakes of the

52:49 surveyor have been driven and what fences have been raised to protect the heritage of the people of God. Well, so much then for that brief statement of the essence of the doctrine, the basis of the doctrine, the history of the doctrine, now in closing, two practical implications of this doctrine. And this is where the London Confession, the Baptist Confession, is richer than the Westminster. It adds something. Paragraph 3, under the being of God in the Trinity, we have this.

53:23 Which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence upon him? Two things. This doctrine is the foundation of all our communion with God and of all our comfortable dependence on him. Let me take just five minutes to flesh out those applications. First of all, the practical implication of this doctrine is that it's the foundation of all our communion with God. Now, follow this doctrine. Look closely. If God is one, and within the one God there are these three subsistences, Father, Son, and Spirit, and the three are not three gods, but one God, the same, equal in power, glory, and sharing in the divine essence, then any true communion with God is communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

54:25 For there is no other God. If you hold communion with me, you'll hold communion with a man who's 42 years of age, six feet tall, and weighs 190 pounds. And you tell me you had communion with Pastor Martin, who's five foot six, weighs 122, and is 33 years old, and I'll say, no, no, that's a bogus, Pastor Martin, not me. Not me.

54:48 You hold communion with me, you hold communion with me for what I am. And if any sinner has communion with the living and true God, he has communion with the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, does this mean that there is no other God? No, there is no other God. There is no other God. There is no other God.

55:02 Does this mean there has never been communion with God unless the doctrine of the Trinity has been understood? Of course not. It is doubtful that there was any or little intimation of this in the Old Testament, but David and prophet and psalmist and many a humble Israelite had true communion with God. But listen, once the doctrine is revealed, a rejection of it negates the possibility of communion with God.

55:30 For we are baptized. That's the threshold. We are baptized into the name of the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

55:41 Therefore, these movements that teach anti-Trinitarian doctrine as foundational to their very systems of doctrine are non-Christian sects and cults.

55:57 There's a large Pentecostal movement in the world today, not just our own country. They're called Jesus Oneness people. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. I call it an unchristian cult, a non-Christian cult.

56:11 The Jehovah's Witness system is a non-Christian cult, Unitarians. You say you're being terribly negative. No, no, I'm being positive in driving the states of Scripture.

56:25 The foundation of all our communion with God is this glorious doctrine that the God whom we worship and confess is Father, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And then secondly, it's the foundation of all our comfortable dependence upon Him. That's an old English way of saying it's the foundation of all our security and sense of confidence in faith. The doctrine of the Trinity, think of it.

Implication 1: Foundation of Communion With God

56:55 Our salvation according to Scripture rests upon the mighty activity of the entire Godhead. It took nothing less than the sovereign will of the Father, exercised in divine selectivity. It took nothing less than the incarnate God, the eternal Word becoming enfleshed, taking to Himself a true humanity. It took nothing less than the enfleshment of God to provide a just basis for our salvation.

57:25 It takes nothing less than the direct, powerful, personal ministry of God the Holy Ghost to subdue a rebel sinner's will, to open his blind eyes, to beget in him spiritual life, enabling him to repent of sin and to embrace the Lord Jesus. My friend, if you think you can be saved by anything less than the activity of the entire triune Godhead, you need yet to have an accurate sight of just what you are in your sins. Take something more than a general wish on the part of God the Father that somehow, somewhere, somebody might, accept salvation. Take something less than the death of a mere exalted creature called Jesus of Nazareth and something less than the activity of some impersonal force called the Spirit. This is the doctrine of the Russellites. My friends, any sinner who's ever saved according to the Scriptures is saved because the entire triune Godhead has committed himself to the salvation of that sinner. Remember Pastor Blaise saying so forcefully and eloquently, it takes the whole trinity to save one sinner.

58:42 And that's true.

58:45 Am I talking to someone who sits here this morning and mocks at this doctrine? My friend, listen. I was meditating on this this morning. It's a frightful thought.

58:54 Some of you are going to learn more theology between the day of judgment and the time you sink into hell than you've been willing to learn in an entire lifetime.

59:06 Theology! From the point of judgment to the time you sink into hell than you've been willing to learn in a lifetime. You're proud! Rebellious heart and mind!

59:18 Rise up and say, I'll have nothing to do with these great mysteries.

59:24 My friend, these great mysteries will break in upon your spirit in that awful day.

59:32 Only to add to the torments of your tortured conscience when you sink into the pit of everlasting birth.

Implication 2: Foundation of Comfortable Dependence on God

59:40 Am I speaking to a child of God who's having doubts about the doctrine? You say, I don't believe. I'm proud and rebellious, but I...

59:49 My friend, listen. There's no such thing as...

59:51 There's no such thing as honest doubts concerning that which is clearly revealed in the Word of God.

59:56 What you call an honest doubt is a subtle form of wicked unbelief.

60:02 All fools, Jesus said, and slow of head? No, no. He said, fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written. The Lord didn't monkey around and say, well, you know, you had honest doubts.

60:18 He said, slow of heart to believe. Unbelief is a condition of heart. Oh, may you take the place of Thomas and say, Lord, there's much I cannot fathom, much I cannot penetrate. But this I know, this I know, that if omnipotence had not come to my rescue, I should yet be in my sins.

60:43 This I know. The Holy Spirit has worked within me faith in Christ. He has rescued me. He must be the mighty God who became the Son given.

60:55 And this I know, that my blindness and my death were such that if omnipotence in the person of the Spirit had not quickened me and brought me to life, I should yet be dead. Oh, dear child of God, it is one thing to feel the tension and the pressure to doubt and to question, but to hold it as it were at bay in a posture of faith, awaiting God's time to resolve the doubts. It's another thing to let the doubts flirt and seduce and then take them by the hand and court them and enter into intimate dalliance with them. It's a form of spiritual prostitution.

61:40 No, the foundation of all our comfortable dependence upon God is this wonderful doctrine of the Trinity. For you see, we do not have dealings with God primarily in terms of what God is in Himself. We have dealings with God in terms of what He is to us. In redemption.

62:06 You see, I'm not called upon to pierce and to penetrate the mystery of the triune Godhead. What God was as Father, Son, and Spirit from eternity, I am called upon in the language of Ephesians to come to the God who is Father through the God who is Son in the power of the God who is the Holy Spirit. You see? And there's not a child among us who cannot revel in that kind of Trinitarian, comfortable reliance upon the God of the Bible.

62:40 Here we stand. Are you an anti-Trinitarian? Have I offended you this morning? My friend, I don't care if I've offended you.

62:50 For we stand to confess the God whom we believe, worship, and proclaim is the God of inscrutable tri-personality. He is Father, Son, and Spirit. Now you can work out all the other applications of our worship. Does our worship reflect a vigorous Trinitarianism in your own devotions?

63:15 Is it evident that you're a true Trinitarian? Well, you see, you can work out the implications. My main purpose this morning has been to give this broad overview. May this God whom we've sought to proclaim be glorified in this revelation He has made of His own wonderful self.

63:33 Let us pray. O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let us pray. We worship You this morning. We worship You in the Trinity of Your being.

63:53 We worship You as the one true and living God. And we are glad to confess that we find this mystery inscrutable. And we are content to bow in loving reverence before the revelation You have given. And O Lord, we pray for those who sit among us who know nothing of that Trinitarian salvation, for those among us who may be wrestling with the doubts rooted in unbelief or uncrucified intellect.

64:26 O God, minister to each of us according to our need. And now we plead that the benediction of Yourself, living, triune God, O may that benediction rest upon us in the very language of the text we've looked at this morning. May the very grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, may the very grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, may the very grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.