The Trinity (Part 2 of 3): The Trinity is Relatable

So where was the Trinity revealed?

The Trinity was primarily revealed through the birth of Jesus Christ into this world,

born of a virgin, born of the Holy Spirit, fully God, fully man.

He dwelt among us and then at his baptism, his baptism,

the Spirit descended like a dove on his shoulder and the voice of the Father said, this is my son,

identifying him as the Son of God.

So the Trinity was revealed in the baptism.

Third, in the claims of Jesus.

When he claimed to be the I am.

I am the bread of life.

I am the light of the world.

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Before Abraham was born, I am.

He claimed to be Yahweh, the I am who I am.

The claims of Jesus.

And then fourthly, at Pentecost.

When the Holy Spirit came and filled the believers, the third member of the Trinity came into our world and

filled believers.

And so the Trinity was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and in the coming of the Holy

Spirit.

We also learned that, the final point from last week, that this is not a contradiction.

To say that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and yet is one God is not a contradiction because the

teaching is this, that there is only one God.

The Shema of Israel.

Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord.

That remains true even in the New Testament.

But there are three persons and a person is different than a being or an essence.

Within the one being, within the one essence who is God, there are three persons.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

That's what's revealed in the New Testament.

Now we're not going to have perfect understanding of that on this side of heaven and maybe not forever.

We will never fully exhaust the depths of who God is.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our

children forever.

So last week we talked about the revelation of the Trinity but we stand in a little bit of danger here

today because if we only look at God from an academic point of view

and we just study God like we would study any other subject, we can run dry.

We can approach him like a subject in school rather than the living person and so the question that we have today

is how can we relate to a triune God?

Is the Trinity relatable to us humans?

The God who created everything.

Can we know him and what difference does the Trinity make in that?

Today we're going to talk not academically about the Trinity but we're going to look at

Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Each person of the Trinity and how that revelation changes our walk with God.

What does it mean to know God as Father?

What does it mean to know him as the Son of God?

What does it mean to be spiritual or to know him as the Holy Spirit?

Love is at the center of relationship.

Without love there is no relationship and we all know what 1st John teaches us about

God and love, right?

God is love.

The first thing I'd like to teach today is this point that in order for God to be love

he has to be Trinity.

He has to have multiple persons within the one God.

Think about this for a minute.

Before there was creation, before God made anything, who did he have to love?

And if God needs creation in order to love because love has to have an object

then how can we say that love is at the essence of who God is?

We as Christians claim that God is love and we are alone

in all world religion in being able to say that.

Because even before there was a creation, even before he made anything, he

was love because Father loved the Son, loved the Spirit and the

Spirit loved the Father and the Son.

There was perfect love within the essence of who he was before he made anything.

Think about that for a minute.

Unless God is love he depends on his creation for something.

He would have to make a world in order to love a world but if he's Trinity he exists

as love in and of himself.

God is love and so we're brought to the question how do we know

God and how do we love God?

That's what we study today and today I really only want to have one sermon illustration,

just one.

However, I want to keep coming back to it in multiple iterations and here's why.

Because if I look at the Bible and I say who is one Bible character that epitomizes a

love relationship with God?

The person that comes to my mind is David and so as I go through this teaching I

want to keep coming back to the life of David as a picture of what it means to love

God.

David was called a man after God's own heart.

He loved God with all his heart.

In fact when he was chosen to be king the other brothers, seven other brothers were passed by

and Samuel was surprised by that.

Hey there's a this guy he's tall, handsome, he must be the one.

But God said through Samuel, no man looks on the outside but God looks at the

heart.

He saw something in David.

The heart of David was love for his God.

So David is a picture for us of a loving relationship with God.

Now isn't David a relatable character in the Bible?

Can't you relate to him?

I mean the the Old Testament book of 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel are filled with stories of David's life

and you see him suffering.

You see him being betrayed.

All of the experiences of David's life are so real and relatable.

Things that all of us have gone through at some point in our lives you see it in David's life.

You see him crying out in the Psalms, pouring out his heart.

You see him hurting, you see him celebrating.

We can really relate to David, right?

We can even relate to him in his sin.

I mean who among us has not been tempted and David fell into sin?

Remember the story of Bathsheba.

Even though he was marked by his love he was still prone to fall.

But read Psalm 51 to see how he repented of that sin and came back.

He was prone to pride.

Remember when he numbered the mighty men?

He counted his army even though God said not to.

Pride was in his heart and we can relate to that.

Sometimes we fall into that.

So David is very relatable.

I find him relatable especially because it says he was a handsome man.

Not so much.

So we relate to David but especially in his love

for God was remarkable.

So let's begin with the first point.

How then do we relate to God as Father?

Relating to God as Father is largely about trust.

Turn with me if you will to the first place here in the scripture is 1st Samuel 17 32 to

36.

Now before we really start flipping from page to page I want to give you a warning.

We are going to go through a lot of scriptures today.

If you would rather just listen that's fine.

If you if you have an iPad or something you can use that to just jump around in the scriptures.

Normally here's how I like to preach.

I like to open up a text of scripture and just exposit that text.

I just go from top to bottom in that section.

But today is something different.

Today we're doing a topical study.

So what the goal is today is to take a lot of different information all sprinkled throughout the

scriptures and correlate it together into a system to say something to us about a subject.

We want to look at how do you relate to a father?

How do you relate to Jesus?

How do you relate to the Holy Spirit?

And so we're gonna pull a lot of random texts.

But I've studied each one in context and I'm gonna be faithful to the context only we're just gonna take little bits and

snippets today.

So it's a little different.

It's a topical Bible study.

Topical sermon.

So if you want to follow along that's great.

Otherwise just listen and try to pull it in.

And we have provided all those notes for you.

There's an app called YouVersion that we have all of those notes listed.

So you can take those home and look at them later and go back to them.

Also we print them up in your bulletin.

So the first place if you want to get there is 1st Samuel 17 32 to 36.

And you know the story of David.

Especially this one because you heard it growing up right?

David versus Goliath.

And all of Israel was trembling.

They saw this giant was huge and nobody wanted to fight him.

He was a warrior.

Really tall.

Really strong.

And we hear in the scripture that the Israelites were trembling with fear so that not one of them

was willing to face Goliath in battle.

Now the one who should have stepped up was the king Saul who also stood a head taller

than everybody else.

But the king Saul was hiding in his tent just like everybody else.

Hmm.

Not David.

Chapter 17 verse 32.

And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him.

Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him for you are but a youth.

And he has been a man of war from his youth.

But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep for his father.

And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him

and delivered it out of his mouth.

And if he rose against me I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

Your servant has struck down both lions and bears.

And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them.

For he has defied the armies of the living God.

Here Goliath is taunting Israel, mocking the God of Israel, and David hears those

words as an attack against his father.

His father whom he has learned to trust.

When a lion had come along to try to attack a sheep or a bear, David, trusting his father,

ran to protect the sheep.

And now this Philistine is taunting his father.

David teaches us a lesson about trust.

David had learned trust, step -by -step, finding God faithful no matter what

circumstance he went through.

And so because he trusted his father, he rushed into battle, not away from it.

Trusting God means understanding that he is a good

father.

That your father in heaven loves you and cares for you.

David knew that so implicitly that he had no fear.

Because perfect love casts out fear.

David knew his father.

And so what about us?

What is our relationship like with our father?

If you turn with me to Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 through 13, we have a

famous prayer in the Bible.

And if I were to begin it, you could probably quote it with me.

Our father who art in heaven.

We know this prayer, it is a prayer directed to our father, but as we study it through, what do we find?

Hallowed be thy name.

Your name is holy.

He honors the name of the father, just like the Philistine dishonored the name of God and

David honored the name of his father, we pray to honor the name of our father.

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And then what?

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts.

To ask God to give us our bread is an expression of trust.

It's an acknowledgment that everything that we have comes from him.

We as Christians need to learn to trust God in our lives.

Now the opposite of trust in some ways is fear.

David trusted, whereas the rest of the Israelites feared.

Not trusting that God would empower them to fight the Philistine, they cowered back in fear and anxiety,

biting their nails while the Philistine taunted the army.

But David, having faith in his father, rushed headlong into battle and won the victory.

Trusting God to provide what we need.

David didn't even have a sword in his hand.

For him it was enough that he had his slingshot and his stones.

God provides everything that we need for life and godliness.

James 1 17 says every good thing we have comes from the Father.

It comes from the Father of lights who does not change like shifting shadows.

The Father of lights, God the Father, provides everything that we have.

Every meal that we were eaten, the clothes that we're wearing today, all that we have comes

from our Father.

We need to learn to relate to God as a Father that provides, that's

trustworthy and faithful.

That's easy to do in the good times when we're eating a delicious meal, but what about

in the hard times?

Turn with me to Acts chapter 4 verses 27 and 28.

We know good things come from the hand of God, but in Acts

chapter 4 verse 27 we learn about four individuals or groups

that conspired together to destroy.

You have the Romans, the Jews, Pontius Pilate, and Herod.

All four conspiring against the Holy Son of God, Jesus.

Together in their evil planning, all for different reasons, all for different motivations,

all pursuing their own course.

What was Pontius Pilate interested in?

Holding on to his power, whatever works, whatever keeps the people from rioting.

What was Herod interested in?

He was just a lunatic, he was just crazy.

What about the Romans?

They're just serving Rome in the interest of the Empire.

What about the Jews?

They hate his claim to be Messiah.

They consider it blasphemy.

All different perspectives, everyone doing their thing, evil being worked out in their midst.

But look at verse 28, don't miss this brothers and sisters.

Acts chapter 4 verse 28 tells us something very important

about our Father.

In reference to these four different people or groups, it says that they came together

against the Holy Servant Jesus, verse 28, to do whatever your hand

and your plan had predestined to take place.

Isn't that mind -boggling?

Let that sink in.

Four individuals or groups conspiring for their own reason, making their own

decisions, making their their own creaturely willful decisions,

conspire against Jesus, and in verse 28 we hear that they were doing precisely

what God's hand and God's plan predestined to occur.

Wow.

God is always on his throne and nothing

can happen, even a sparrow falling from the sky, apart from the

hand and plan of God according to our text.

Whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So God is not the author of evil, but there has never been a willful evil choice

made on this earth that God did not predestined to occur in some sense.

God is the one who has a decree, a plan that he is working out.

There is always a purpose for everything that happens and that includes the willful,

sinful decisions of man.

They are responsible for their sin, but God is working together a plan that even

incorporates that.

I know this is a difficult concept.

Remember Joseph's brothers?

They sold him into slavery and in Genesis 50, what do we learn?

That what they meant for evil, God meant for good.

His hand and his plan will allow suffering in your life.

There will come times of suffering.

He is not the author of evil when people sin against you, but his hand and his plan is working something together for

good.

Romans 8 28, for we know all things, all things work together for good to those who

love God and are called according to his purpose.

God never steps off his throne and he's never taken by surprise.

He never learns anything.

His plan is being worked out in his creation and his hand is

trustworthy.

You can trust your father according to Acts 4 28.

Well Job would say, well wait a whoa, whoa, what about me?

You guys ever feel like Job?

Like that's easy to preach when everything's going well, but what about Job?

He lost all of his kids.

They all died and everything that he had and not only that, his wife cursed God and died and he's sitting there

scraping himself with a pot shirt because the boils on his body hurt so bad.

In Job 13 verse 15, he says, even though he slay me,

yet shall I trust him, yet shall I hope in him.

Isn't that interesting?

Job understood something that even in suffering, God has a plan and God

is faithful.

We can learn something from Job.

Not from Job's friends though, right?

Well we can learn from them but not by following their example.

Job's friends thought they knew why God's plan was working out like it did and that's something brothers and

sisters that we don't know.

As we trust our father, we don't know why he allows suffering the way he does.

We don't.

The three friends thought it was a formula.

If you're suffering, it's because you sinned.

You sin, you suffer and so if you're suffering, it's because you sin.

That's what all three friends were essentially saying and it wasn't the case at all.

In the case of Job, there was some kind of spiritual warfare going on where God was in a showdown with

the and Job was somehow in the middle of it.

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater though because sometimes we

suffer because we sin.

In Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5 through 11, we learn that some

suffering that we go through is chastening from our father

and this proves that he loves you because I know this, if I

didn't love my son, then I wouldn't discipline him.

But I do discipline my son because I do love him and every father in here understands

that principle.

A good father will discipline the son that he loves and what does discipline look like when

our father is invisible to us?

It could look very different for each one of us but don't be too quick to discount the

teaching of Hebrews 12 that sometimes when we suffer it's because our father is chastening us,

correcting us and so if we continue to charge forward in a sin that we know is wrong,

we will find ourselves beating our head against the wall, suffering.

Is it because God doesn't love us?

No, it's because he does.

You're never gonna find satisfaction there, you're never gonna find true delight there but when you turn from sin

and repent, you will find that you've been released from that suffering

because very often the case is true that suffering is the discipline of

a loving father according to Hebrews 12 verses 5 to 11.

One last one with the father and we'll move on to the son.

James 1 13, when being tempted trust that the father's way is

actually better.

We talk about the father's plan that he has for our lives, that includes each one of us.

He has a meticulous plan for your life and temptation is the devil's

attempt to offer something that looks better for you to pursue and he makes

it look attractive but like cotton candy as soon as you take

that temptation you find it evaporates in your mouth and there's no substance there.

To overcome temptation we need to trust our father's plan.

Next, let's relate to God as son and relating to God as son is largely

about being devoted.

It's about devotion.

In 1st Samuel chapter 17, we'll flip back there one more time.

Verse 58, 1st Samuel

17 58 is the end of the story.

After David has conquered the Philistine, Goliath, it says, and Saul said to him whose

son are you young man?

And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

David was the son of Jesse but in his role in the Old Testament, David

was prefiguring Jesus Christ.

If you read Psalm 22, you'll see that the sufferings that David went through were a foreshadowing

of the sufferings of Jesus.

When David writes about his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth and being pierced through his hands and his feet,

about being surrounded by wild dogs, he's not only talking about his own suffering, he is pointing forward to the

suffering of Jesus.

And David, the king, represents the King of Righteousness, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is often called the son of David.

Look what happens when David, picturing the victory of Jesus Christ over the enemy,

when he comes back from battle, look what happens to Jonathan, his friend.

Chapter 18, verse 1 through 4.

As soon as David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was

knit to the soul of David.

And Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.

Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his

sword, and his bow, and his belt.

The picture here is Jonathan giving his devotion to David.

His possessions as the king's son, that would be a very valuable possession to him, his sword and

his armor for war.

But we're told in chapter 18, verse 1, that the soul of Jonathan was knit

to the soul of David.

Now in our modern culture, in 21st century America, there are many people who try to read into

this text something sexual here, and claim that there was some kind of sexual romance here

between Jonathan and David.

Nothing could be farther from the text.

That's reading a modern interpretation upon the text that is not there.

And it's a perversion of the text to do that.

What this is displaying for us is the kind of devotion that the son of

David stirred up in an Israelite.

David, representing Jesus Christ, inspired devotion, just like

the mighty men of 2 Samuel 23.

Remember David's mighty men?

One of them was willing to go down in a cave and fight a lion on a snowy day out of devotion for his

king.

Another one fought a giant and grabbed his spear and fought him off.

Three of them heard David say, I'm thirsty, I wish I could get a drink from that well in Bethlehem.

But the Philistines were holding that well, and these three mighty men snuck into the camp of the Philistines,

broke through their lines, and got water from that well, and brought it back to their king

out of devotion.

Their hearts were knit to David's heart.

They had passion for their king.

And why was that?

Think about how David reacted when he saw that water.

He saw what his servants had done, and he took the water and he poured it out.

He said, I won't drink it.

It cost the blood.

It was the risk of your lives that gave me this water.

He so valued their devotion and their willingness to die for his sake that he wouldn't drink the water.

He poured it out.

That's the kind of king that they served.

A humble king.

A king who didn't just say go into battle, but he was the one that went to battle first,

and stood up to that giant when he was only a boy, and he inspired something in them that they were

willing to die for.

That's passion.

That's loyalty.

You see, to relate to Jesus's Son means that you can picture in your mind's eye

this virgin -born child grow up among them, and be rejected by the Israelites, and

willingly stand before Pontius Pilate, not open his mouth, but as a sheep being led to the shearers,

go and lay down his life on Calvary's tree, and that our champion, the

Philistines had their champion.

David's a picture for us of our champion, but our true champion is Jesus Christ, and he was hoisted up on that

tree, and suffered in our stead, and when I look at that Son of

God lifted up and crucified for me, I say he is worthy of my

devotion.

I will give him everything I have.

I will break through the enemy lines.

I will bring him water.

I will do whatever he says, because he's worthy of my devotion.

He's a warrior king, and a humble king, and if he lays down his life for me,

it's a small thing for me to give mine to him.

That's what it means to relate to him as the Son.

It's to delight in his work.

We have Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14

to 18.

Well, 1st John 4 2 means that he came a hundred percent in the flesh.

Hebrews 2 14 to 18 talks about how, as a son, he didn't become an

angel to save angels.

He became human to save humans.

Jesus Christ was born a hundred percent human, and because he walked in

my experience, he suffered temptation as a human.

He had to learn what it was like to grow up and grow in wisdom and understanding.

Can you imagine the omnipotent, omniscient Son of God growing in wisdom and understanding?

He went through the full course of human experience, so he's relatable.

He inspires my devotion as I look to the Son.

The Son's victorious death on the cross is the ground of our devotion.

We just talked about that 1st Corinthians 2 2.

That's why Paul says, I determined to know nothing except Christ and him crucified.

And in John 15 15, the Son of God says, I no longer call you servants

because the servant doesn't know his master's business.

From now on, I call you friend.

And friends, I want to ask you, are you devoted to the Son?

Have you really stopped to consider what our King has done for us?

Have you considered how he laid down his life on Calvary's tree and took it back up again

on the third day?

Greater love has no one than this, the one who lays down his life for his friends.

If you will look at Jesus and look at his cross, you won't lack for devotion.

I know some of us here struggle to be devoted.

One day we're in, another day we're out.

Sometimes we're riding on that fence, one foot in the world, the other foot in the church.

What's the antidote to that?

It's to look upon Jesus and him crucified, to go back to the place where you were born again.

Go back to the foot of the cross.

That's where devotion comes from.

That's where passion comes from.

Finally, the third point, relating to the Holy Spirit

is largely about joy, about joy.

Knowing the Father means we have a trusting relationship with God, where we trust him to provide.

We're not anxious because we know he is our provider.

Knowing the Son means we're all in, we're devoted.

Knowing the Spirit means we rejoice in the Lord and especially in worship.

We'll go again to David, but let's not turn there.

I'll just remind you of this.

In 1st Samuel chapter 16 verse 13, before any of this happened, Samuel

came to David and anointed him.

In verse 13 it says that anointing meant actually pouring oil on his head.

And in that verse we learn that from that day on the Holy Spirit rushed upon David.

The Holy Spirit rushed upon David.

The Spirit began to move in his life in some new, profound, powerful way.

And that's what explains this man called David.

Well of course Messiah means anointed one.

When we say Jesus Christ, Jesus Messiah, Jesus the anointed one.

The full measure of the Holy Spirit at all times.

But in our lives it's possible to be a Christian and at times not be spiritual.

Here's what I mean.

To be rightly related to Christ means to have accepted Christ as your Savior, to be born again, to be

a Christian.

But it's also possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit with whom we were sealed for the day of redemption.

Not that we can lose his sealing, Ephesians 1 13 and 14, but according to

Ephesians 4 verse 30, it's possible to grieve the Holy

Spirit.

What does that mean?

To grieve the Holy Spirit means to make him sad, to put some distance between

us.

We're told not to get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Holy

Spirit.

So to be filled with the Spirit in some way is connected with drunkenness.

Drunkenness is kind of the anti -type in this case.

When you're drunk you're controlled by a substance, you're controlled by alcohol.

When you're filled with the Spirit you're controlled by the Holy Spirit.

When you're grieving the Spirit you may be falling down into depression and sadness and drifting

away from God, but when you're filled with the Holy Spirit you're controlled by him

and one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy.

John chapter 4 verse 24, we learn what kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

The Father is seeking those who would worship in spirit and in truth.

Guys, as we sit here and we're flipping pages and we're learning the scriptures,

that's a form of worship, that's receiving truth, but we also need

the Holy Spirit.

The Father is seeking those who would worship him in spirit, having received the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit,

being led by the Spirit.

So what does spiritual worship look like?

Spiritual worship is worship that's empowered and controlled by the Spirit.

There's a difference between singing a song on a Sunday morning and

worshiping God on a Sunday morning and the difference is the filling of the Holy Spirit,

the control of the Holy Spirit.

To worship must be in spirit and in truth, not just in the flesh.

It's possible to simply say words with our mouths and to sing words with our mouths,

but spiritual worship is singing from our heart.

According to John 3 verse 6, that which is flesh is flesh,

that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

So when the Holy Spirit comes and gives us a new birth, that Spirit then lives

in us and unites with our spirit and enables us to worship in the Spirit.

So our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be marked by the filling of the Spirit and the joy

that comes with that.

Just give you a couple more verses that go along those lines.

Psalm 32 verse 11.

Again, it's David writing and the psalm is about the forgiven.

In verse 11 it talks about rejoicing and being glad.

We always picture David as that warrior who fought Goliath, right?

But don't forget, he was also that shepherd who sat on a hill writing worship songs to his God,

filled with the Spirit, filled with joy.

Psalm chapter 23 verse 5.

You guys might know this if we started to quote it.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He talks about how as a good shepherd he leads us, like a father.

But in verse 5 it says, he anoints my head with oil,

my cup runneth over.

That is a picture of being anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Before I preach, I call on God to anoint me with his Holy Spirit.

I want his oil to come dripping over my head and give me the words to say.

But preaching is only one part of life and singing worship songs is only one part of

life.

Worship should be about all of life.

The Holy Spirit coming and taking over and filling us with joy.

Galatians 5, 22 and 23.

The fruit of the Spirit is love.

We talked about love today.

Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.

So in closing, the Trinity is

not just a doctrine to be studied at seminary.

The Trinity marks our relationship with God.

And I want you to stop and think for a minute.

Is there an area in your walk with God where you're struggling?

Maybe there's fear in your life and anxiety.

Here's what I want you to do.

I want you to go back to those scriptures that we just talked about.

About God being our Father.

And I want you to write them down and read them and reread them and pray about them and

meditate on them.

And remember this, that you have a good Father.

A good Father who's trustworthy.

He may let you go through suffering.

He will let you go through suffering.

And sometimes we need that for chastening.

But no matter what you're going through, your Father loves you.

He has a plan and he's working that plan out in your life.

And if you struggle with devotion, one foot in the world, one foot out.

One foot in the church, the other out.

If that's your struggle, go back to the place where you were saved.

Get back to the foot of the cross and look on the one they pierced.

And mourn for him.

Return to your first love.

It's the cross.

It's the person of Christ as we identify with him in his humanity and in his suffering that inspires our

passion and our devotion and our joy.

The Holy Spirit fills us that we would delight in God.

That worship wouldn't just be something we come and do on Sunday morning, but it would be what drives us

from Sunday morning till Saturday night.

All of life.

Worship in spirit and truth.

David is our example of this.

Go back and study it.

Let the picture of his life be an inspiration to us this morning.

As we leave here, be thinking about how could my life be a life of worship and passion,

devotion, trust, so that on Monday morning

you're willing to rush in and share the gospel with somebody that you normally would run away from.

Trust in God.

Meditate on these things.

Consider these things.

And let's close in prayer.

Let's call the worship team to come up.

And as they're coming, I just want to take a moment for those maybe you've never believed in

the Trinity.

You've never come to relate to God as triune.

Maybe you've never trusted that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God who died on a cross and rose again.

You've never asked him to come live in your life and give you his Holy Spirit.

I think we should take a moment to give that opportunity to anybody here.

You're not sure that you're a Christian.

You're not sure that you're a Christian, but today you want to be sure.

You don't want to leave here without being sure that Jesus Christ has saved your soul and forgiven your

sins.

So before we sing this last song, I'm going to give that opportunity.

And just right now, if anybody here, you don't know for sure

that you have the new birth, that the Holy Spirit has come into your life, and you've been born again.

But you want to be sure.

You want to be saved.

Just slip your hand up real quick.

Raise your hand.

Is there anybody that you're not sure that you're born again, but you want to be saved right now?

Just raise your hand.

Anybody?

Okay.

Let's just all close our eyes and pray.

Let's pray for those who are not in this building.

Let's assume that those who are here know Jesus Christ the Savior.

And I pray, Holy Spirit, if there's some that don't, I pray that you would draw them to faith, Lord God.

Draw them to the Son of God.

And I pray for all of us who are here that you would just put in our minds those that need to be here to hear the gospel

of the Lord Jesus Christ and empower us to share the gospel with them.

Lord, I have someone in my mind right now that I'm praying for.

I ask that you would save this person.

Reveal yourself to them.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, guys, let's stand up for the last song.

As we sing this, consider the Trinity.

Continue to think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy.

Spirit.