Wednesday, January 18, 2023 PM

We'll go ahead and get started. The sound booth said to give them a couple of minutes, so that's good enough.

I can hear you, anybody out there.

Good, very good. All right, let's pray before we get started. God, we thank you so much that you created this world, you created us, you made us in your image, and even though you are incomprehensible, you communicate to us, you put information on pages for us to read, you give us your Holy Spirit so we can understand, and even though you are unique and there is nothing else like you, you still communicate to us, and we can understand that you are unique and there is nothing else like you.

There are no other gods, you tell us that clearly, and yet you sent your son to die on the cross, and you send a helper to help us, to help us understand your word, to help us resist sin, to conform us into the image of your son.

So we ask as we go to your word to understand that the Holy Spirit would enlighten things and make them clear, Lord, I pray for my mouth that you would have me say the things you would have me say and not say the things you would not have me say.

We pray that those that hear would be edified and that we would be able to know you more and glorify you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, I'm gonna do a little bit of review from last week and then we'll dive into this section.

The Meaning of Lord, God, Christ, and Jehovah

So if you'll notice up at the top, I wrote out the words again. We're gonna be going between Old Testament and New Testament. So in the Old Testament, anytime you see Lord, all capital, that is the name of God, Yahweh.

If you see Lord with a capital L and the rest is lowercase, that is a title, that's Adonai, which means sovereign one. In the Old Testament, when you see God, it's the Hebrew El or Elohim. In the New Testament, when we see Christ, that's Kyrios, which is the Greek equivalent of Adonai.

So Christ means sovereign one. God in the New Testament is Theos, where we get theology from, the study of God. So those are the words we'll be seeing. So Old Testament and New Testament. So as we're reading through, take note if you see the word Lord, if it's all capitalized or if it has lowercase, and that'll help us with that.

And I bring this up because some of the cults will use texts, they're not translations because they did not translate, but they'll use texts where they do not differentiate between these words. They don't take the Greek into consideration.

And actually Jehovah, the word Jehovah is actually a combination of Yahweh, which if you'll notice has no vowels. So they took the vowels from Adonai and combined it with Yahweh, and that's where we get Jehovah.

And so it's a combination of the name of God and a title, they put those together. So that's the terminology that we'll come across in the text. A little bit of recap, the Trinity is apprehensible, mean we can apprehend that the word of God is telling us something, right?

Even if we don't understand it completely, we can tell God sent his son, so there's more than one person there, right? So it's apprehensible. There is one being known as God, that's a what, and three persons, that's a who.

So last week we talked about personhood and being. If someone were to ask my wife, who are you? She would say, Brooke. They said, what are you? She would say, human. If they asked Brooke, what are you?

And she says, human. And they ask me, what are you?

Human.

They would not say, oh, then you're the same person, right? That's a category error. We are not the same person, but we are the same being. God is one being in three persons. So it's logically sound. We're not saying God is one God in three gods.

We're not saying he's one person in three persons. He's one God, what, in three persons, who. And so tonight we'll talk about the who, the three persons. Number two, the Trinity is incomprehensible. We have to be comfortable with this idea of mystery.

We are not going to comprehend the God that created us,.

Right?

He created us. He is the creator. We cannot comprehend that, but we can apprehend that he is trying to say something specific to us. So we cannot fully understand the Trinity. God is completely different from anything else.

And this is also why analogies fall short, because to use analogies is to compare the creator to the creation, right? So I gave some analogies last week, like I am a son and I'm also a husband and I'm also a father, right?

But those are roles that I have, right? I am always the same person, right? My role changes, but I'm only one person and I'm only one being. But the Bible says God is three persons, okay? Another analogy might be that of the son.

You have the son, then you have the light that comes from the son, and then you have the heat that comes from the son, but that's not correct either. That's partialism, right? And the heat that comes from the son is created, but Jesus is not created.

He's existed eternally from the past, right? So we can get into some errors when we fall into that. So analogies fall short because God is incomprehensible. The Trinity is apprehensible. We know that it's saying something specific.

Three Distinct Persons Called God

So with that, let's dive into foundational truth number two. And my writing is horrible. I would have made a horrible school teacher, but this says there are three distinct persons who are called God.

So foundational truth number one from last week, there's only one God. So we call it monotheism, one God. This week, there are three distinct persons who are called God. The doctrine we say is the Trinity, tri-unity, Trinity.

What we're not saying is we're not saying tri-theism. We do not believe in three gods. We believe in one God. And we looked through all of those texts that taught us there was one God. So we're not tri-theists.

We're Trinitarian. We're also not polytheists, like the Jehovah's Witness or the Mormons would say they're polytheists. Islam would call us polytheists because they don't understand the foundational truth number one.

We affirm there's only one God. There's only one God. But when they hear us say there are three persons, they hear us saying there are three gods, and that's not what we're saying. So we have to work with them in explaining what we mean.

So I wanted to give some verses I wrote down here. We've got Old Testament and we've got New Testament. In the Old Testament, primarily what God reveals is his being, right? There is one God. We see that over and over again.

In the New Testament, we see the three persons revealed more clearly. I say more clearly because in the Old Testament, there are still verses that talk about the three persons. So we can see them even in the Old Testament.

Old Testament Hints of the Trinity

So what I'd like you to do is turn to Genesis 1, and we'll start there. But I wanna read for you a few verses because I want you to hold this in your mind, the foundational truth number one. So hold your place in Genesis, and I'm just gonna read these into your hearing.

Deuteronomy 6, 24. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. Isaiah 43, 10. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant who I am chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Before me, there was no God formed, and after me will be none. Isaiah 44, 6. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first. I am the last. There is no God besides me.

So foundational truth number one, there's only one God. So let's start in Genesis 1, 26. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. So in my recollection, going to school, us is plural and our is plural.

So it says, God said, let us make man in our image. Image there is singular. He doesn't say, let us make man in our images. Let us make man in our image, singular. So that's the first kind of scratch in your head moment.

Turn to Genesis 11. Look at verses six through eight. The Lord, all capitalized. The Lord said, behold, they are one people and they have the same language. And this is what they began to do. And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

Come, let us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another's speech. So the Lord, all capital, scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth and they stopped building the city, right?

So here in verse seven, it says, come, let us go down. But who goes down in verse eight? The Lord, right? It uses the divine name of God. The being of God goes down. And previously in verse seven, it says, come, let us go down.

Now, are there any mentions of any other beings here, right? Angels, Michael, the archangel? No, who goes down? Verse eight makes it clear. The Lord goes down, right? So there's no other mention of any other beings.

The Lord said, let us go down and then the Lord goes down, right? Turn to Isaiah 9 .6. So this one's one we do during Christmas time. For, Isaiah 9 .6, for a child will be born to us. A son will be given to us and the government shall rest on his shoulders, okay?

And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. So this is a prophecy that's speaking about Jesus. We already know there's only one God. He's made it very clear.

And yet all of these titles are talking about a son that will be given, a child that will be born. But all of these titles are titles for God, right? Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Mighty God is El Gabor, Mighty God, Eternal Father.

So these are titles for God given to someone that's to be born. An interesting side note, the Jehovah's Witness will argue this point because they'll say El Gabor means Mighty God, right? But he's not Almighty God.

And so they'll use verses that talk about Jesus as Mighty God, but then Heavenly Father is Almighty God. But that breaks foundational truth number one. There is only one God. It doesn't matter if you call him Almighty or Mighty, there's only one.

So El Gabor means Mighty God and it's applied here to a person. Micah 5 .2, if you'll turn there. Micah 5 .2 is another prophecy about Jesus. This is what it says. But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathath, too little to be among the clans of Judah.

From you, one will go forth for me to be a ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. This word eternity here means if you go back to the beginning of time, as far back as you can go and go further.

No beginning.

It's saying,.

There's a person,.

There's a person, there's a God.

No beginning. From the days of eternity. This is prophesying about Jesus. So it's saying that Jesus' beginnings are from the beginning, past as far back as you can go. So I wanna do a little,.

If, so the best way to do it,.

It's still there. So if you'll turn to Psalm 2, sorry, Psalm 102. Psalm 102. And look at verse 25 through 27. Ask yourself, who is this talking about? Or what is this talking about? Psalm 102, 25 through 27.

Of old, you founded the earth. And the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they perish, but you endure. And all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing, you will change them and they will be changed.

But you are the same. And your years will not come to an end. So in our experience of reading the Old Testament and talking about creation, knowing the creation story, knowing everything that the Israelites went through, knowing that there's one God, who are we talking about here?

Talking about God. God created the heavens and the earth, right? They don't know about Jesus at this point. They know about God. God, by your hands, the work of your hands, the heaven and the earth were created, okay?

So you'd say, that's obviously talking about God. Go to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, verses six through 12. And when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all the angels of God worship him.

And of the angels, he says, who he makes his angels winds and ministers of the flame of fire. But of the son, he says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. And verse 10 is a jointer. It says, and. So if we go back in verse eight, he says, but of the son, he says.

So this is what God the father says about the son. Verse 10. You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain.

And they will all become old like a garment. And like a mantle, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will also be changed, but you are the same and your years will not come to an end. That's a quote from the Psalms in the Old Testament that we just affirmed was about God.

And here in Hebrews, God is saying this about the son, is saying this about Jesus. So it's saying that Jesus created the heavens and the earth as God. Another way we can do this is to go from the New Testament to the Old Testament.

And again, these verses are in there. They haven't changed these verses in their translation. So you can go to these and say, what do you have to say to this? This is what the Bible says. So look at John 12.

John 12, 39 through 43. It says, this is John 12, 39 through 43. For this reason, they could not believe. For Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes, he hardened their heart so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted, and I healed them.

Verse 41, these things Isaiah said because he saw his glory and he spoke of him. Now the here, the him in John chapter 12 is Jesus. If you go back and you read, it's talking about Jesus. It says, for this reason, they could not believe in Jesus.

And verse 41, these things Isaiah said because he saw him and saw his glory. Verse 42, nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed in him, Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue for they love the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

So then what you do is you show them this passage and you ask them, when did Isaiah see Jesus? Because in this passage, it says these things Isaiah said because he saw Jesus's glory.

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord and the Glory of Christ

Look at Isaiah chapter six, starting in verse one.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. What is that word in your translation? Adonai, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him stood the seraphim, each had six wings. With two, he covered his face, with two, he covered his feet, and with two, he flew. And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, Yahweh, of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. This is when Isaiah saw Jesus, and he used the term sovereign one, and the angels are worshiping him, and the glory fills the room, and the angels sing holy, holy, holy threefold to worship Adonai, to worship Yahweh.

This is when Isaiah saw Jesus. So you can take them to those passages and put that question to them and ask them, how does your translation translate Lord? It'll say Jehovah in both. Now they claim to be scholars in the Greek, but they translate that word the same in English, but it's a different word in the Greek.

It's either Yahweh, or in the Old Testament, it's gonna be the Hebrew, Yahweh or Adonai. Those are different words. So going back into the New Testament, let's talk about the people, the three persons.

We've already established God the Father. He's the one that sends the Son into the world. First, look at, I already did John, Titus, Titus 2 .13. And this is one that actually let us know that we were working with a false translation, because we thought we had the same translation, and the Jehovah's Witness could not understand what we were saying, till we got to this verse.

And there's another one in Romans, and we were like, that's not the same. So Titus 2 .13, it says, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

The New World Translation says this, while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God, and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It splits them up. It makes it a different phrase. Whereas our translations calls Jesus our great God and Savior.

Those both are put as titles to Jesus. If you're familiar with Doubting Thomas, what does he say? In John 20 .28, Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. He says this to Jesus. He calls him my Lord and my God.

The Jehovah's Witness forgot to change that. It says that in their translation, if they don't split it up. So if you say, why is Thomas calling Jesus God? It's because you forgot to change your translation to take it out.

Worship Belongs to God Alone

Okay, so those are some of the verses. I'm gonna run through some of these pretty quickly, but I want you to think about the person of Jesus. So Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 .13, you shall fear only the Lord, your God, and you shall worship him and swear by his name.

So there it says, you shall fear only the Lord. The New World Translation takes out the word only because they believe in many gods. So you don't have to worship the Lord only, you can worship small g gods.

Jesus quotes this. In Luke 4 .8, he says, it is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only. Okay, so Jesus, out of Jesus's mouth, said we should only worship God. Angels do not receive worship.

In Revelation 22, John falls down at an angel's feet, and the angel raises John up and says, no, no, no, don't worship me, I'm a fellow servant. So angels do not receive worship. But the Jehovah's Witness believe that Jesus is Michael the archangel.

Like, no, that's not true. Jesus would not receive worship if he was just an angel, because angels don't receive worship, it's only for God. Men do not receive worship. When Peter goes, in Acts 10, when Peter entered Cornelius, met him and fell at his feet and worshiped him, but Peter raised him up saying, stand up, I too am just a man.

So man does not receive worship. Jesus received worship. Matthew 14 .32, when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who are in the boat worshiped him saying, you are certainly God's son.

Matthew 28 .9, and behold, Jesus met them and greeted them, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. If Jesus was just an angel, or if Jesus was just a man, he would not accept that worship.

But he is God, and he deserves our worship, and we're to worship him only. So those are some references to Jesus receiving worship. And I'm just gonna throw these references out real quick, of other things that Jesus did to prove that he was God.

Jesus takes on the prerogatives of God. He forgives sin. And Jesus says, only God can forgive sin, but so that you know that I am God, is it easier to tell this man to take up his mat and walk, or to forgive sins?

Well, I'm gonna do both. And he heals the man, proving that he can forgive sin, that he is God. Jesus forgives sin, he receives worship. He knows people's thoughts in Matthew 9 .4 and John 2 .4. He says he knew what was in the hearts of men.

He knew what was in their minds. He also controls his own creation, right? When he's sleeping in the boat, and they wake him up, they say, don't you care? He's like, peace, be still. And the creation listens, right?

He has control over his own creation. These are all prerogatives of God. And then Jesus claims to be God. When the Pharisees are questioning him, and they come to him like, how do you have authority to all of these things?

And he says, you claim Abraham as your father, but Satan is your father. Before Abraham was, I am, right? That goes back to Moses in the burning bush. Who do you tell the Jews that I am? Say that I am, right?

Jesus claims that for himself. Now the Jehovah's Witness will say, no, the Pharisees just got it confused. They thought he was saying that he's God, but he wasn't really saying that. Then why did he go to trial and die?

That's a pretty easy misconception to clear up. Why are you trying to kill me? Because you're saying you're God. Oh no, I'm not God. That's an easy misconception to clear up. He was claiming to be God.

It says they picked up stones to stone him. He knew what he was claiming. He was claiming to be God. And then lastly, we talked about Jesus and God the Father, but the Holy Spirit, all throughout the New Testament, it doesn't describe the Holy Spirit as a force, right?

That goes around. It says, I will send you the comforter, right? Who did Ananias and Sapphira lie to? The Holy Spirit. It says you lied to the Holy Spirit. Do you lie to impersonal force? No, you lied to people.

In John, the prayer, John 16 and 17, constantly Jesus is talking about the Father, and I'm gonna go be with you and have the glory that I had when I was with you, and I've sent the Holy Spirit. He constantly uses the word he and him.

The Holy Spirit is a person, right? So here we see in the New Testament that the Holy Spirit is three persons, not three gods, but three persons. So if we affirm truth number one, there is only one God.

We claim that, we hold that to be true. And yet the Bible is trying to tell us something specific that God is unique and he is three persons. If we can go and show the cults that and the people we're not tritheists, we don't believe in three gods, we're not polytheists, we are monotheists, there's one God, and we're created in his image, and we're to worship him only, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your clear teaching in your scripture. We pray that we would hold to these truths, that we would love them because it means knowing you more and it means glorifying you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Ken, if you would come, you're gonna have to turn that around.