The Holy Spirit Reveals the Father — Zac Poonen

The Trinity Revealed in Genesis

In the Old Testament, there is no clear revelation of God. In the Old Testament, there is no clear revelation of God. But right in the first book, first chapter of the Bible,. But right in the first book, first chapter of the Bible, we get a little glimpse of it in Genesis 1, verse 26.

We get a little glimpse of it in Genesis 1, verse 26. We get a little glimpse of it in Genesis 1, verse 26. It doesn't say, God said, let me make man in my image, but let us make man in our image. But let us make man in our image.

God did not say, let me make man in my image, but God said, let us make man in our image. But let us make man in our image. So it's plural. So right in the first chapter of the Bible, we read that God is more than one person.

But yet, throughout the Bible, you read God is one. But yet, throughout the Bible, you read God is one. In fact, that's what the Lord taught the Israelites. The Lord our God is one God. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one.

Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one.

Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. And even in Christendom, there are so-called Christians who believe God is not a trinity.

There are groups like that, many millions of Christians. They say there is only Father, Son and Holy Spirit are just like different names for one person. You know, like I am an elder, I am a husband and I am a father.

That doesn't mean I am three persons, I am one. They say God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit just means he reveals himself in different ways but he is only one person. Now, we may think this is only a theological dispute, it's not very serious.

There are groups called Jesus only and they baptize in the name of Jesus and not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because they say, even though Jesus said in Matthew 28 and verse 19, you must baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in Matthew 28.

But, in the Acts of the Apostles, we read that they were asked to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 2 .38, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. There is one simple principle of understanding the Bible and that is, according to our human understanding where two passages appear to contradict one another, they don't contradict.

Both are true. There are many truths like this. God is sovereign and he can do anything. But man has got a free will and he can choose whether he wants to do something or not. And these two appear to contradict each other.

How can God be sovereign in the universe if some man can do his own will? And so, you find among believers, there are two groups, one who believes this and one who believes that. And people ask me, what do I believe?

It's like asking me whether I want my left hand or my right hand. I say, I want both. I believe in this truth and that truth. You remember once, even the devil quoted a verse to Jesus. He said, it is written that these angels will take charge of you so you can jump down.

He said, it is written. And Jesus said, it is also written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And remember, if the devil can quote a scripture to Jesus, he can quote it to you also. And he can use his agents, preachers, to preach some word of scripture to you to deceive you.

And he can use his agents, preachers, to preach some word of scripture to you to deceive you. The way our body is, we have to keep it in balance. And it is true that God is one. And when it is written, father, son and Holy Spirit, that is also true.

And you say, how can both be true? That's because our mind cannot understand it. A God whom my mind can explain will be another man like myself. That can't be a true God. If he's really the true God, it will be something beyond my mind.

You know, just like a dog cannot understand everything in a man. I mean, you may be able to explain to a clever dog that 1 plus 1 plus 1 is 3. You put three bones in front of it and after years of training, the dog understands, yeah, 1 plus 1 plus 1 is 3.

And now you go one step further, and you teach that dog, 1 multiplied by 1 multiplied by 1 is 1. The dog is confused. I thought it was 3. What an 8-year-old child can understand, even a 15-year-old dog will not understand.

Why? Because a dog is at one level and man is at another level. So you have to be really crazy to think that you can understand God fully. What that dog can understand is my master loves me. I can't explain multiplication, but I know my master loves me.

And that's what we need to say. I can't explain the Trinity, but I know it's true. One thing I know, God loves me. That's true. So we shouldn't try to explain the mysteries of God with our human mind.

We cannot do it. But when people have come to our church and say we were baptized in the name of Jesus, I say you may not have known it, but that's something wrong that you did there because you were denying the Father and the Holy Spirit when you were baptized only in the name of Jesus.

So I say I've got to baptize you again the way Jesus commanded in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because there's a verse in 1 John 2 .22 which says if somebody denies the Father and the Son, that is the Antichrist.

If you say I deny the Father, it's only the Son. That Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Son and Jesus is the Holy Spirit. That is the spirit of the Antichrist. So I baptize such people again. I say whoever baptized you did not baptize you according to the command of Jesus.

Then they ask me this question, then why is it said in the Acts of the Apostles that they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? When two scriptures appear to contradict each other, Jesus said baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the Apostles baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, I say both are true.

They say how can it be true? I said I'll tell you how I baptize people. When I baptize a person, I say I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I baptize in the name of Jesus Christ and in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I'll tell you why. Particularly in a Hindu country like ours and in many heathen countries, it is not only Christianity that has a trinity. It is not only Christianity that has a trinity. If a Hindu person comes to me with a loan, I baptize him in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And he goes home and says that I baptized him in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His religious Hindu father will say, oh that's okay. That is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It's quite okay, I have no problem.

And therefore to prevent that, I say the Son is not Vishnu, it is Jesus Christ. And in the Egyptians, they also had a trinity with three different names for that. So that is why it's specified in the Acts of the Apostles, they baptized the Son was Jesus Christ, not some other God.

So there are many things like that. I've studied the Bible 55 years, I've never seen a contradiction in it till today. I've studied the Bible 55 years, I've never seen a contradiction in it till today.

I say this for the benefit of some of you who have college students who question you, why does it say like this in the Bible? Shall I tell you another story? When I was a young Christian, I was baptized in 1961.

When I was a young Christian, I was baptized in 1961. I used to read the Bible every day, but I was not a serious student of the Bible when I got baptized. I used to read the Bible every day and have a quiet time.

But I had already been born again for one and a half years. But I was not digging into the scriptures. So one day I was witnessing to a Muslim fellow naval officer. He was a sharp man, clever. So when I told him about the way of salvation, he said let me ask you a question.

Studying Scripture Through Difficult Questions

Was Jonah alive or dead in the fish's belly? I said he was alive. Then he said, didn't your Jesus say that as Jonah was in the fish's belly, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth? So, and this is what the Muslims teach, that Jesus did not die on the cross, he just swooned.

They put him in the tomb and the cool air revived him and there was no resurrection. So he says, Jesus was alive in the grave, he was not dead. Because like Jonah was, Jesus was. I was so confused, I didn't know what to tell him.

I could not continue witnessing to him. I went to my room and I knelt down before God and I said, Lord, I'm ashamed. I don't know the answer to something in the Bible. But I decided today, I'm going to study the scriptures.

And if there's an answer to something in the scriptures, I don't care where it is, I'm going to find out. And that day I started studying the scriptures. And if I know the scriptures well today, I have to thank one Muslim man who challenged me with that question.

Today I know the answer. Jesus said, as Jonah was alive in the fish's belly, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth. And Lord Jesus said, as Jonah was alive in the fish's belly, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.

How is it in? That means in the center of the earth. So I said, the grave was on the surface of the earth. Whereas Jesus, his body was there, but his spirit went to the center of the earth, where paradise was at that time.

Because he told the thief, today you'll be with me in paradise. When I put all these scriptures together, I realized at that time, paradise was in the center of the earth. And in his spirit, he was alive there.

His body was dead in the grave. And after three days from paradise, he came back into his body and rose up from the dead. And then we read in Ephesians 4 that when he ascended up to heaven, he took all these captives in paradise and took them up to the third heaven.

So today, paradise is not in the heart of the earth, it's up there in heaven. That's why Paul says, I was caught up to paradise. Now these are little things. But sometimes clever people ask questions and try to fool us that there's something wrong in the scriptures.

Now there's nothing wrong in saying I don't know the answer. But there's no contradiction. There's one thing I learned in the Navy. A senior officer asked me a question. And if I said, I don't know, sir.

He would say to me, never say, I don't know, sir. Say, I'll find out, sir. To say, I don't know, sir, is a lazy answer. I never intend to find out. To say, I don't know, sir, is a lazy answer. I'll find out, sir, means, I don't know right now, but I'll find out.

If somebody asks you a question in the Bible you don't know. Don't say, I don't know. Say, I'll find out and get back to you. It's very important to know that. Why? This is what has given me such tremendous confidence that this book is the word of God.

The Apostolic Pattern of Ministry

And it's that faith which has strengthened me through all types of situations. My ministry has not come merely through the study of God's word. It is not only by studying God's word. There are many people who study God's word who don't have a proper ministry.

They don't serve God like Paul did. You know, Paul never worked for money. He supported himself. He planted churches. He appointed elders. He regularly wrote letters to establish those churches. I said, where are people doing that today?

Today people are great preachers who are just building their own names and their kingdoms. Making a lot of money. You hardly ever find the way the apostles did God's work being done today anywhere. You find elections in churches.

People are always pressurizing people to give money. The way the apostles did God's work is almost not seen in the world. People say, well, it doesn't matter. The main thing is to get people to heaven.

If that's the only thing, we don't need a book with one thousand pages in the Bible. We don't need a five page Bible or something. The only aim in life is to get people to heaven. There's a lot more in scripture because there's a lot more than just taking people to heaven.

There's a lot more than just taking people to heaven. I'm saying all that to encourage all of you to be diligent students of God's word. If you have a passion for something, you can spend any amount of time to discover the truth of it.

Whether it is studying computers, or some other gadgets, or people who try to find out cricket scores, or the records that Indian batsmen and bowlers have made. They have a passion to find out. They have so much information in their heads about who scored so much, and which match they scored this, and how many wickets somebody took here.

When I see that, I say, why don't we have people in the church with a passion to study the Bible like that? They just come and listen, and go away without a passion to get to know what is in God's word.

That's why there's so much spiritual depth in so many churches. So, when you hear boring sermons and spiritual depth, don't criticize it. You ask yourself, what are you doing to improve that yourself?

You've been a believer for so many years, why don't you study God's word? The Bible says even your sons and your daughters can prophesy when the Holy Spirit is poured upon them. Do you know that even the sisters can prophesy even though they can't teach?

Prophesy means to speak a word to encourage and build up other people. That doesn't mean you have to stand in the pulpit and do it. You can prophesy on a cell phone. So many people are on cell phones the whole day almost nowadays.

If you can gossip so much on the cell phone, why can't you say a few words of encouragement also? Those who write emails, why not add a word of encouragement in your emails to that other person? That is prophecy.

Prophecy is to say something that will encourage others. Challenge others. Build them up. That is the definition of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14 .3. Encourage people. Challenge people. Build them up. You can do that on the cell phone.

You can do that when somebody comes visiting your home for a visit. You can do that when you write an email. Encourage. Challenge. Build up. That's prophecy. Brothers and sisters can prophesy. So if you decide I'm not going to do gossiping anymore, we can talk about many worldly things but you don't have to speak evil about others.

There are 101 good things to speak about without speaking evil about other people. And encourage people. You know that all of us need to change our way of speaking. We really seek to use our tongue to bless other people.

The Father, Son, and Spirit in the New Testament

So now take this matter of the Trinity. In the Old Testament it was not clear. The first time you read about Father, Son and Holy Spirit is in the New Testament. And the first time you see it is at the baptism of Jesus.

The Son is there. Father is in heaven and speaks saying this is my beloved Son. And then the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus. That's the first time in the Bible you see clearly Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And then at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus specified it. You also baptize people in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Just like at his baptism there was Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He says you baptize in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So how are we supposed to relate to these three persons of the Trinity? That's what I want to share with you. First of all, how are we to relate to God the Father? It says in Romans chapter 8. What does the Holy Spirit do when he comes within us?

The first thing, as soon as we are born again, before even we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit comes in, which happens as soon as you are born again, it says in Romans 8 .15 He cries out from within, Abba, Father.

Abba means Daddy. Abba is a Hebrew word. Father is a more formal word. We usually call our Father by a more intimate name, like Daddy. In the Indian language it's Abba or something like that. There's an intimate word used for our Dad.

Even though formally he's Father. But there's an intimate word. In English it is Dad or Daddy. That is Abba. So the Holy Spirit cries out, Dad. One of the first things the Holy Spirit does when we are born again, this is one way you really know you're born again.

Hey, I've got a Dad in heaven now. And Jesus spoke about that so much. He said, when you pray, pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven. Before I studied the Bible, I was born in an Orthodox church.

And I did not know the Bible. I mean, I knew Jesus died for our sins. But I would always think of God as God Almighty. Jehovah. But as the Holy Spirit came into me, and I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I stopped calling him Jehovah.

You know what I call him? Daddy. Father in heaven. It made such a difference in my life because I was a very insecure, scared young man. I was like an orphan, a fatherless child. I don't know whether you've seen orphans.

Orphans are very much to be pitied. Because they've never had from childhood someone to hug them and love them. And these children who grew up in orphanages, without father and mother, because somebody just threw them on the road and didn't want to get rid of that baby, they'd take them to an orphanage.

All their life, they suffer because they're orphans. They're always insecure. Very quick to fight with people. Always suspicious. Very stubborn. Very possessive. They want you to be their friend. They're so possessive, they don't want you to be anybody else's friend.

These are all marks of an orphan. There are many believers like this. Insecure, afraid, anxious. They don't have a father in heaven. Jesus said the father cares even for the birds. And the Lord Jesus Christ said that even the father of heaven cares for the birds of heaven.

Have you heard the story of the two birds talking to each other? One bird was asking another bird. Why are these human beings always so anxious and their brow is furrowed and worried about so many things?

Even these who call themselves Christians, they're always worried. And the other bird said, maybe they don't have a father in heaven like we have. Are the birds saying that about you? They look at you and say, why is this man worried so much?

Why is this woman worried so much? They go to church on Sunday and sing to the father, but they come home so worried. They don't know the father. In the Old Testament, nobody could call God father. They say, oh, great and terrible God.

That's how they prayed. Almighty, Jehovah, I am that I am. They were afraid even to mention the name of Jehovah. That is why till today, nobody knows the correct pronunciation. Because in the Hebrew, it is just written YHVH.

Is that Yahweh or is it Jehovah? We don't know. Why is it we don't know? Because they would never mention that name. Because it says, don't take the name of the Lord in vain and they never mentioned it at all just to make sure they never take it.

So till today, nobody knows. Is it Jehovah or Yahweh? Nobody knows. But I know. It's daddy. It's so blessed to be in the new covenant. You know, that's why there are some songs about Jehovah which Christians sing.

There's no God like Jehovah. Many songs about Jehovah this and Jehovah that. There are songs when people sing, I'm silent. Or I say, daddy. Because he's not Jehovah to me. Jehovah means he becomes distant to me.

But people say, isn't that his name? I said, supposing my son came to me and says, Mr. Poonen, I'd like to talk to you. I said, what son? Are you angry with me or something? Why do you call me Mr. Poonen?

He says, dad, isn't that your name? I know that's my name and other people call me that, but you're my son. You don't call me Mr. Poonen. So, let all the people call him Jehovah. I call him daddy. I do what Jesus said.

When you pray, say, father in heaven. That made such a difference in my life. He said, before you pray, start by saying our father in heaven. I use daddy only in private prayer, not in public prayer. Jesus said, you must be like a little child.

I imagine when I'm praying that I'm like a little child sitting on my daddy's lap. I feel as secure as a two-year-old sitting on his daddy's lap. No worry or anxiety in the whole world. And the wonderful thing, a two-year-old can ask daddy for anything.

Daddy, I want an elephant, real one, not toy elephant or anything. I want an airplane also, real airplane. Now, father may not give all that, but he can ask for anything. He may only give him a toy plane, that's okay.

I can ask my father for anything. Believe it or not, I do. I was not like this in my early days as a Christian. For so many years, I was worried, anxious about so many things. And the birds would look at me and talk to each other.

What to do? Till I came to know God is my daddy. That removed the furrows from my brow. I learned to relax. Like it says in Psalm 46, even if the mountains fall in the midst of the sea and the earth shakes, God is our refuge.

Not 46, 46. Okay, so I want all of you to know God like that. Don't call him Jehovah and God and all that. You can call him God, there's nothing wrong in it, because he is God. He's not only our father, he's our father who's in heaven.

Prayer and Confidence in the Heavenly Father

So, when I begin to pray, if I can keep these two things in mind, that's what Jesus said. Before you begin your prayer, say our father who are in heaven, two things. That means I have to first realize who I'm talking to.

Not great and terrible almighty God whom I'm scared to come to. I don't need permission to go to him. Like in some big company, some ordinary worker, he cannot go and see the CEO, general manager easily.

He has to contact his private secretary and may get an appointment after one month. But what about that CEO's little three-year-old son? He just walks into his office without even knocking at the door.

He doesn't have to wait one month for an appointment. I'm not an employee of God, I'm his son. I can walk into his presence anytime. I can tell him anything. I can tell him all my problems, because he's my father.

But not only that, he's in heaven, which means there's nothing he cannot do. He can do everything. Jesus said before you pray, think of these two things. He's my father and he's in heaven. Because we don't begin our prayer like that, we pray and wonder whether he cares for us or not.

And we are worried and anxious and we don't know God is father. So this is how every one of us must know God. This is a privilege of the new covenant. And that is one of our privileges. And that will remove all the insecurity.

There will be no more competition between you and other believers. There's a lot of competition among Christians. We want to show we can preach better than others. Or we are smarter than others. Or we can sing better than others.

These are all people who don't know their father. I can honestly say I am not in competition with any believer in the whole world. I don't want to show that I'm better than another person in any area.

Because I'm secure in my father. He made me in a particular way and I have no complaints. No complaints. If I have only a certain amount of intelligence, I say God made me like that. I'm happy. It's very important to learn to accept yourself the way God made you.

Particularly a lot of young people I think girls particularly they look into a mirror they're not very happy the way God made them. They wish their nose was a little smaller or their ears were a little less.

Or I wish I was a little taller or a little shorter. Or a little thinner. God made you in a particular way. When you know God as father you just accept yourself. And you'll be at rest. You'll be at rest in your heart.

And you will never try to compare yourself with somebody else. The advantage is you'll never boast that you're better than others. You will never feel inferior to others. And you will never refuse to cooperate with others.

Because you know whenever we are asked to work with somebody in the back of our mind the question is who will get the credit for this? Will he get the credit for what I'm doing? Let him get the credit.

It's fine. It's like in football you know. Nobody wants to be a goalkeeper because he never scores any goals. Everybody wants to play center forward because he can get the glory I scored so many goals in the game.

Those are useless players. The best player is the one who can even pass it to somebody else to score the goal. And it doesn't matter if he scored the goal it's our team. We won. That is a person who is secure in God.

I'll tell you honestly I'm not even in competition with so many other churches that are doing God's work in India. I can sincerely thank God for so many churches who are doing a wonderful work in North India and other parts of India where I've never gone.

I have to do what God told me to do and they have to do what God told them to do. I'm not here to try and show that I'm better than them. There are people who do radio ministry literature ministry and children's ministry and they all don't do it the same way I do.

Even their financial policies may be different from mine but I'm not here to compete with them. I thank God for everyone who is preaching the gospel. If they are doing it in the wrong motive God will judge them one day.

My life became secure when I knew God as my father and I wish all of you would know that you know all these wrong attitudes that you have towards other people in your heart if you go to the root cause of it it's insecurity.

From the time we are born we are insecure and the only way to come to security is if you know God as your father. And that is what the Holy Spirit has come to do. It removes fear of our enemies harming us and this is one of the main reasons that Jesus tried to stress even in the Sermon on the Mount.

You know we think the Sermon on the Mount is such a high standard we can't reach it. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount you see this wonderful statement and that is the secret Matthew 6 and verse 8 Your father knows what you need even before you ask him.

I said father this is great. Even before I ask you know what I need. Then why does he ask us to pray? If he already knows what we need. Because he wants us to have the joy of feeling that he answered our prayer.

He could have done it all himself without our asking. He wants us to have the joy of feeling I helped in that. But he wants us to have the joy of feeling that he helped us. Here suppose I am taking a big table from one room to another room.

And a 3 year old child says father I want to help you. And I know that he will be more upset if he tries to help me. But I don't want to discourage him. I say okay son just hold that corner there. So he holds that corner.

And I carry the table to the other room. He feels so happy that daddy and I carried the table to the other room. And he will go and tell his mummy. You know mum I carried that table and daddy helped me to take it to the other room.

And I am so happy that my son is excited. God is a father better than me. He wants me to feel I did something. You know when Jesus fed the 5000 people. He could have created bread from nothing. But he said let me give this little boy a feeling that he also helped to feed the 5000.

He said give me your five slices of bread. And he fed everybody. And that boy goes home and says you know mummy I and Jesus fed 5000 people today. That is why he tells us to pray. He can do a million things without your prayer.

He wants you to cooperate with him. He could have made wine from air. In an empty water pot he could have made wine. He said let them feel they also had a part so you pour the water I will make it into wine.

This is our father. You do something and you do the easy part I will do the difficult part. He wants to cooperate with us. It is such a joy to cooperate with the father in prayer. He can do it without us.

But he chooses to use us. You remember when Jesus told the disciples after they fished all night and caught no fish. He said Jesus could have filled that boat with all the fish jumping in by itself. Then it would have been 100 Jesus work.

He said I want you to do something. You throw the net. Then Jesus filled that net with fish. You learn something from all this. Then he says I want to work together with you. If you don't do your part.

You don't throw the net over. You don't give your five slices of bread to Jesus. Nothing will happen. Supposing that boy had said I can't give you five I will give you one. Jesus would have said keep it.

I will do it without your help. I will tell you something. The Lord Jesus wants everything from you or nothing. That's what God wants. That's the reason many of us don't enjoy the blessing of God. Or in our life or our ministry.

Giving Everything to God

If you give everything to God. He will give everything to you. See John 17. That's a lovely verse here. John chapter 17. You must always remember this verse. Jesus prayed to the father. In verse 10. Father all things I have that are mine are yours and all that are yours are mine.

That's how Jesus lived. If I have five slices of bread you can have all of them. If I have like the widow two mites I will put it both in the box. Like that widow. So what about Christians who say God I will give you 10%.

Then the verse is like this. Father 10 of my stuff is yours and 10 of your stuff is mine. You know why some of you get so little from God? Others seem to get so much. Why is your ministry so barren and other people's is like rivers of living water?

It's because when God asks you to give something you take a small teaspoon the smallest teaspoon you can find and say Lord here is my offering. Always your question is what is the minimum I have to give to God to keep him happy?

And God says what is the minimum I have to give this guy to keep him happy? And somebody else says Lord take everything. And the Lord says really? Then you can take everything of mine also. Okay one last verse Psalm 18.

It says in verse 25 with the kind you show yourself kind. With the blameless you show yourself blameless. With the pure you show yourself pure. With the crooked you show yourself astute. And with the miser you will show yourself also miserly to that person.