A Consistent Trinitarianism

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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September 17, 2017

00:02: I want to invite you to remain standing while we open our Bibles and turn to the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
00:21: For our message this morning, we're going to be reading in John chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, a very familiar passage to many of us regarding the person and nature of God.
00:40: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
00:54: He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
01:08: Father in heaven, I thank you for your Word.
01:11: I thank you that even now as we begin to preach the Word, and as I begin to take the pulpit for this task, I pray that you would keep me from error, for I know my capacity for error.
01:29: Lord, I do not want to preach that which is incorrect for the sake of you and your name, for the sake of your people and their conscience and heart, and Lord, for my own conscience' sake.
01:44: Lord, I never would want to be numbered among the false teachers, and your Word tells us that the one who teaches is held to a standard for teaching.
01:58: And I pray, Lord, that you would anoint this time with power, use it to convict, use it to convert, use it in whatever way you so see fit.
02:15: In Jesus' name, Amen.
02:19: You may be seated.
02:27: Well it has been much longer than usual since our last time gathering together because of the storm.
02:35: I haven't seen you all in a few weeks, and so I want to just remind you where we have been studying and what we have been studying.
02:46: We have been in a long series now on the subject of the history of the Protestant Reformation.
02:52: And we're in this study primarily because this year, on October 31st, there will be 500 years from the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, which is a watershed moment not only in Christian history but in world history because it sparked the major divide between those who identified themselves as Catholic and those who identified themselves as Protestant.
03:24: Early in this study, we have looked at the history which led to the Reformation.
03:29: We looked at the theology that arose during the medieval period and the theology that gave birth to the false teachings of Rome regarding the Mass and regarding things like indulgences and Mariology and all kinds of other false teachings.
03:46: And we looked at the men who stood against the false teachings of Rome.
03:50: We've looked at the lives of Martin Luther and John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, the Anabaptists and others.
04:00: And our goal has been, through this study, to look at a confession of faith that, as I said, everything we've done up until a few weeks ago was pretty much a precursor.
04:12: Several months of study was all introductory to get us to the point where we could come to a statement of faith and look at it and study it and say, what does this say about our history as Christians, particularly as Reformed Christians? And so we chose the 1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
04:35: It was the first confession of faith written among churches which identified themselves specifically as Baptists.
04:44: Seven churches came together and they wrote a confession of faith which was comprised of 52 articles of belief, theology and doctrine.
04:58: And in our last session, which was a few weeks ago, we looked at Article 1, which pointed to four particular aspects of the nature of God, that God is incomprehensible, that God is holy, that God is wondrous and that God is mighty.
05:18: And this week, we're going to move to the second article of faith.
05:22: If you have your bulletin, you'll notice on the back that I've pre-printed this for you because I imagine that none of you came today with a copy of the 1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
05:33: So I printed this for everyone, along with an outline of today's message.
05:43: This second article deals with one of the most consistent points of Christian theology.
05:51: And even though it is often debated, and the cults love to attack it, and we're going to talk about that in a little while, it has been the steadfast teaching of the church since the time of the apostles.
06:07: And that doctrine that I'm talking about is the Trinity, which is why I've entitled today's sermon, it's kind of a long, sort of wordy title in a sense that the words are long, but I've entitled it, A Consistent Trinitarianism.
06:22: A Consistent Trinitarianism, because as I hope to show, if there is one thing that has unified the church since its birth, it's the understanding of the nature of God as the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
06:42: And it has always been that those who would deny that have been outside what we would refer to as the Orthodox faith, or that which is in line with the truth.
06:56: So let's look at the article together.
06:57: This is the article as it is written.
07:00: In this divine and infinite being, there is the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided, all infinite without any beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties.
07:32: And then the passages that are printed below are the passages that were given by the writers of the Confession itself.
07:39: So I added those in for your reference.
07:43: So this is the section of the Confession that we're going to look at today, and we're going to compare it with Scripture and see that it does in fact make the statement of historic Christian truth.
07:56: But I want to begin with a bit of a disclaimer.
08:00: If there is one doctrine that I have taught with somewhat of an imbalance over the years, it's been the doctrine of the Trinity.
08:09: And I say I've been imbalanced because I've taught on it so much.
08:13: In fact, some would say because I'm Reformed, and because the Church is Reformed, we're probably imbalanced on the Calvinistic doctrines like total depravity and unconditional election and things like that.
08:24: A lot of people point out, you're imbalanced that way.
08:28: Actually, if you look at the scope of my teaching over the last 12 years, the nature of God as it relates to the subject of the Trinity has been one of my primary focuses, and I even wrote a short book years ago called God in Three Persons, the History of the Trinity.
08:46: And so I only mention that because so many of you have heard some of what I'm going to say today.
08:51: I don't want you to turn your minds off.
08:54: In fact, if you were here last year on Wednesday nights, we actually did a long teaching on the subject of the Trinity where we looked at historical documents, and we read confessions and creeds, and we went over what the Bible says not only in the New Testament but also in the Old Testament.
09:13: And if you're interested in that, I recommend going back and getting the audio because what I said in that series of several sermons will be so much more than what I'll be able to do in one day today.
09:24: But as I said, I'm mentioning this not to give myself any sort of pat on the back, but I'm mentioning this because I don't want you to say, well, I've heard this before, and so shut it off.
09:38: Second Peter 1.12 says this, Peter is talking to his hearers, and he says, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.
09:49: That's the goal of the pastor.
09:52: I'm not always here to tell you something new.
09:56: I'm here to remind you of those things which you should know and you should stay steadfast in.
10:01: It's not always the goal of the pastor to give you something new to eat, but it's to keep you fed.
10:07: You know, sort of like a mom with a meal.
10:10: Kids don't get a new meal every night.
10:12: Sometimes it's the same thing you got last week or the week before, but it's what you need to eat.
10:18: You understand? It's what you need for nourishment.
10:22: So when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, some of you might say, well, I've heard this before.
10:29: Well, that's good, because I can honestly tell you there are people who have not heard it at all.
10:36: I have been to several churches and I have met with several pastors and talked to people over the years and found that if there is one teaching that is universally held, but also people are pretty universally ignorant of, it's the Trinity.
10:56: You go to almost every church that would consider itself orthodox, whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, whatever.
11:03: You go to those churches, you say, do you believe in the Trinity? They'll say, yeah.
11:09: They'll say, can you tell me what it is? And I can tell you from experience, and this is personal anecdotal evidence, so it's not in any way scientific, but anecdotally, I have talked to people, many, many people, and I've asked them, can you tell me what the Trinity is? In almost every case, I get an answer that is not biblical.
11:30: In fact, I get almost in every case an answer that would be considered historically to be heretical.
11:35: Oh, God is like water, you know, sometimes He's ice, sometimes He's steam, sometimes He's liquid.
11:40: That's the Trinity.
11:42: It's not the Trinity.
11:43: That's modalism.
11:43: That is a heresy, which is condemned in the fourth century.
11:46: That is not the Trinity.
11:48: I heard one old boy say, God's like three in one oil.
11:51: Put it in my car or my lawnmower or whatever.
11:55: Not exactly.
11:56: That's three parts.
11:58: Trinity doesn't talk about God as three parts, because that's not what it is.
12:07: The biggest problem is that people are convinced, people are convinced that the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be understood.
12:19: I'm here to tell you today, and you may want to argue with me.
12:23: If you want to argue with me, that's fine.
12:25: Not during the sermon, but call me, we'll have coffee.
12:31: But I'm going to tell you something true.
12:36: The doctrine of the Trinity can be understood.
12:39: Now, I want to add to that.
12:43: The doctrine of the Trinity should be understood.
12:47: Not only can it, but it should be.
12:52: Now, I'm not saying that all that God is can be comprehended, and all that the Trinity is can be comprehended.
12:57: As I said two weeks ago, to try to comprehend all that God is with our finite brain would be like trying to take all of the Atlantic Ocean and put it in a thimble.
13:08: It doesn't have the capacity.
13:12: But let me say this.
13:15: If I say to you, do you believe God is eternal? You say, yeah, as the Bible teaches that.
13:22: And I say, what does eternality mean? You'll say, well, it means he doesn't have a beginning, and he doesn't have an end.
13:31: And guess what? You would be right.
13:35: Now, I want you to comprehend that.
13:38: Really understand it.
13:40: You really can.
13:41: If you think about it, because you're an infinite creature, and I'm an infinite creature.
13:44: If I said, I want you to really understand a being that has no beginning, and also has no end, you can wrap your mind around it and get tied in knots.
13:57: Because it really is beyond our ability to comprehend, because we live in a finite world.
14:02: Everything we know how to start, everything we know has an ending.
14:06: Except God.
14:08: And because there is no being in the universe that can compare to God in his infinity, we can understand it, but we can't comprehend it.
14:17: See the difference? We can understand what we're saying.
14:20: No beginning, no ending.
14:22: But fully wrapping our mind around it is, again, Atlantic Ocean thimble.
14:30: So when I talk about the Trinity as something you can understand, what I'm saying is, you can understand what we're saying.
14:37: Even if we can't wrap our whole mind around how it works.
14:42: We can understand what we're proclaiming.
14:46: Even if we don't fully comprehend all that is associated with it.
14:52: Because you don't understand all of God anyway.
14:58: But this is where the cults get their foothold.
15:00: I mentioned earlier the cult groups.
15:01: The cults get their foothold with people because they claim that because most people do not understand the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the Trinity is false.
15:16: They'll say, well, Christians don't even know what the Trinity is.
15:19: They'll say they believe in it, but they don't know what it is.
15:21: And thus it is false.
15:25: And what they're saying is true in many cases regarding people.
15:29: If you have a Jehovah Witness show up at your door, and you address them regarding the Trinity, they will immediately begin to attack that doctrine as being unbiblical, unsound, illogical, and untrue.
15:48: In fact, they'll begin to ask you questions.
15:50: Well, if Jesus is God, who did he pray to? Or if Jesus is God, why did he pray? So what's your answer? What do you say to the Jehovah Witness who says, you believe in the Trinity.
16:05: The Trinity says that Jesus is God.
16:08: But Jesus prayed.
16:11: If Jesus is God, to whom did he pray? Is he schizophrenic? Was he talking to himself? Why did he pray at all if he's God? God doesn't have to pray.
16:27: See, that's the kind of thing you get.
16:34: But the answer, if you understand the doctrine of the Trinity, is Jesus prayed to the Father because Jesus is not the Father.
16:43: You say, wait a minute, you said Jesus is God.
16:44: Yes, the doctrine of the Trinity says this.
16:46: God is one in essence, but three in person.
16:48: And those three persons are distinct and able to communicate with one another and have a relationship with one another.
16:53: Yet they share the same essence or being.
16:57: The Bible says, all the fullness of God dwells in Christ bodily.
17:03: Colossians chapter 2 verse 9.
17:07: So all that which is God is shared by three persons.
17:11: And these three persons are co-equal, co-eternal, and yet distinguishable from one another, so as to be able to relate to one another and talk to one another.
17:26: So the Son, when he prays, to whom does he pray? He prays to the Father.
17:33: When the Son does something by the Spirit, you know, he said that.
17:39: He said, I do these by the power of the Spirit.
17:40: In fact, he said when those people challenged him, hey, you talk about me, but don't you dare talk about the Spirit by whom I do these things.
17:49: Remember he said that? He said, because if you blaspheme me, that can be forgiven.
17:52: But if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is not forgiven.
17:55: Remember that? So Jesus made a distinction between himself and the Spirit.
18:01: Jesus made a distinction between himself and the Father.
18:03: And yet the Bible addresses all three as God.
18:09: All three as eternal.
18:12: Remember when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees? And he was talking about Abraham.
18:20: And he said, you know, Abraham longed.
18:23: This is Jesus speaking.
18:24: This is John chapter 8.
18:25: He says, Abraham longed to see my day.
18:30: And the Pharisees, you're not even 50 years old.
18:34: How can you say, Abraham, look forward to seeing your day? You're not even 50.
18:40: Abraham's been dead for centuries.
18:43: What did Jesus say? Before Abraham was, I am.
18:52: Notice he didn't say, before Abraham was, I was.
18:58: That's actually grammatically correct.
19:01: Before Abraham was, I was.
19:04: That's not what he said though.
19:05: He said, before Abraham was, ego eimi.
19:07: In the Greek, speaks of his self-existence.
19:16: Because if you remember in the Old Testament, that would have been Hebrew.
19:20: When Moses asked the burning bush who sent him to Egypt, Who do you, who do I say sent me? And he said, I am who I am.
19:37: I am is a statement of self-existence.
19:39: And when Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am.
19:41: He was talking about his own self-existent nature.
19:48: You see, if we understand the Trinity.
19:50: If we understand the doctrine of the Trinity.
19:52: We have no problem answering the accusation of the cultists.
19:56: We have no problem answering the accusation of those two boys with the ten speeds.
20:00: That come knocking on our door at 8am on Sunday morning.
20:03: Or Saturday morning.
20:03: Or whenever they come.
20:08: But this is where we have lost our way as a church.
20:11: We have replaced doctrine with emotion.
20:14: We have replaced true genuine Christian fellowship.
20:18: With games and toys and play things.
20:22: And instead of bringing people together to learn the word of God.
20:24: We bring people together to have contests for who can eat the most lemons in a row.
20:29: Or whatever the youth group is doing now.
20:32: You see the youth groups do these games.
20:35: Who can lick peanut butter out of an armpit.
20:37: Yes, that really did happen.
20:43: And what happened is we turned the church into six flags over Jesus.
20:49: It's the Disneyland of the religious world.
20:54: And I got to tell you, that's not what's happening in places like Islam.
20:58: Or groups like Islam.
21:00: They're bringing their people in.
21:01: They're training them to be able to engage the world.
21:05: They're training them to be able to engage with doctrine.
21:07: And that's why most Christians, when they're asked by a Muslim, do you believe in the Trinity? They will say yes, but they can't defend it.
21:19: Because they've spent more time worried about what they're going to wear to church.
21:24: Than what they're going to learn when they get there.
21:32: This is vitally important.
21:37: These are the things that matter.
21:40: And this is why we're doing this.
21:45: So what I'd like to do now is I'd like to look at the confession.
21:48: I was going to actually take you to some of the ancient creeds.
21:51: But time is getting away from me.
21:52: And as it often does, if I try to do everything I want to do, I'll have you here until tonight.
22:02: But I will recommend a couple of things.
22:03: One, when I call it a consistent Trinitarianism.
22:06: Let me just mention this.
22:07: If you look in the history of the church.
22:09: You go back to the earliest writings of the fathers.
22:11: You will see God the Father, God the Son.
22:14: Who was called the Word by the Apostle John.
22:19: And you'll see the Holy Spirit.
22:21: Spoken of as co-eternal and distinct.
22:23: Those three categories are used of them.
22:27: And by the time of the 4th century.
22:29: This was so well understood and so well established.
22:34: That when the council of Nicaea came together.
22:38: For the purpose of dealing with a heretic named Arius.
22:43: Who was trying to teach that Jesus was not eternal.
22:47: That Jesus was not equal with the Father.
22:50: And that Jesus was in fact created by God.
22:55: The council came together.
22:57: Over 300 bishops from all over the world gathered together at Nicaea.
23:00: And universally condemned the teachings of Arius.
23:08: And if you want to know what they said.
23:10: Look up the Nicene Council and the Nicene Creed.
23:12: Many churches recite the Nicene Creed as part of worship.
23:18: Some of you maybe grow up in a church.
23:19: Especially Lutheran churches and stuff like that.
23:22: Recite the Creed as part of worship.
23:25: Later on Athanasius, a bishop of Alexandria.
23:29: Fleshed out those teachings even deeper.
23:30: And his statement on the doctrine of the Trinity.
23:33: Is one of the most profound things that you will ever read.
23:35: The Athanasian Creed.
23:37: Even though he himself did not write it.
23:38: It was based on his teachings.
23:42: So by the time of the Reformation.
23:43: I say all that because this is back 4th century, 5th century.
23:46: By the time of the Reformation.
23:50: 1517.
23:51: The subject of the Trinity was not the focus.
23:57: The subject of the doctrine of the Trinity was not the issue of the Reformation.
24:04: That was consistent from the beginning.
24:08: There had been very little discussion and variation.
24:11: There was one called the Filioquy Clause.
24:13: Which happened and did divide the Eastern and Western Church.
24:16: I don't want to get into the history of that right now.
24:17: But there had been very little variation in the doctrine and understanding of the Trinity.
24:22: And so when the 1500's come.
24:26: The Reformers are making their Reformation principles taught.
24:30: Justification by faith alone.
24:31: Sola Scriptura.
24:32: Sola Fide.
24:33: Sola Gratia.
24:34: These doctrines are being taught.
24:35: When all of that's happening.
24:39: They're not debating the Trinity.
24:43: Because the Trinity was already well established.
24:46: Well founded.
24:47: And whether you were a Catholic or a Protestant.
24:50: The Trinity was not the debate.
24:55: In fact there were a few.
24:57: Miguel Cervantes.
24:59: Which we talked about him when we talked about the life of Calvin.
25:01: He was one who tried to bring the doctrine of the Trinity apart.
25:07: And make Jesus a created being.
25:09: But you know why he was so concerned with that? Because Miguel Cervantes believed.
25:15: Michael.
25:16: Sometimes called Michael Cervantes.
25:17: Miguel.
25:17: Michael.
25:18: Whatever.
25:19: Michael Cervantes believed.
25:21: That the doctrine of the Trinity was what divided the Christians from the Muslims and the Jews.
25:25: And if we could just get rid of that.
25:28: There could be unity under one God.
25:31: Well he was right.
25:34: In one sense he's right.
25:36: The doctrine of the Trinity is what separates the Muslims and the Jews from the Christians.
25:40: Because we're all monotheists.
25:43: We all believe in one God.
25:47: But the Muslim would say no.
25:50: God has not a son.
25:51: That's actually in the Quran.
25:54: It says cursed is he who says Allah has a son.
25:57: Cursed is he who says three.
25:59: And not one.
26:04: And of course Jews.
26:05: Would deny Jesus.
26:08: As anything more than a prophet of God.
26:11: And certainly not the son of God.
26:15: So when people say do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? No.
26:21: Now they both believe they're worshipping the God of Abraham.
26:24: You have to remember that.
26:25: Muslims believe they're worshipping the God of Abraham.
26:27: Jews believe they're worshipping the God of Abraham.
26:29: And Christians believe they're worshipping the God of Abraham.
26:33: But the Christians believe in one God who reveals himself in three persons.
26:36: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
26:39: The Muslims say that's not true.
26:41: That's false.
26:41: That is actually damnable heresy.
26:44: Jews say that's false.
26:46: It's not true.
26:50: But it can't be the same God.
26:52: God can't be a trinity and not be a trinity at the same time.
26:55: So called the law of non-contradiction.
26:57: You can't be and not be at the same time in the same relationship.
26:59: God can't be trinity and not trinity at the same time.
27:02: He either is or he isn't.
27:05: And the consistent teaching of the Christian church from the beginning is that God is triune.
27:17: And so, when we come to the confession that we've been studying, the 1646 confession.
27:26: The writers of that confession did not feel the need to restate everything about the trinity.
27:35: They didn't need to write a new Nicene Creed.
27:38: They didn't need to write a new Athanasian Creed.
27:42: Because the teaching of Trinitarianism had been consistent.
27:46: So what they needed to do, they didn't need to rewrite the doctrine.
27:51: All they needed to do was show consistency with the doctrine.
27:56: So that's why if you read the second article here, it's not very long.
28:01: It's not written in such a way as to explain everything about the trinity.
28:06: It's simply written to say this.
28:08: We agree.
28:10: We are not Aryans.
28:14: We are not like Cervetus.
28:19: We are Trinitarian.
28:22: And so they write what I have broken down into three parts.
28:26: The identity of the trinity is confessed.
28:30: This is in the first section.
28:33: And then the indivisibility of the trinity is confessed.
28:36: And then the distinctions are confessed.
28:37: Let me break that down very quickly.
28:41: First, the identity.
28:42: It says, in this divine and infinite being, there is the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
28:47: Now, notice it begins with the phrase, in this divine and infinite being.
28:51: When it says this, that is referencing the first article, which is talking about who God is.
28:57: And then it says, in this divine and infinite being, there is the Father, the Word, and the Spirit.
29:05: And this phrase is interesting because it references something I like to imagine when I think about the trinity.
29:09: The trinity is not like three men holding on to one ball, and the ball is God.
29:16: You got me, Dale, and Jack, and all of us are kind of holding on to our side of the ball here, and the ball is God.
29:22: That's not the trinity.
29:29: Because in that sense, one would have a portion, another would have a portion, and another would have a portion.
29:33: That's not the way that we understand the trinity.
29:37: The trinity is that the three persons are sharing one infinite and divine being.
29:45: It is shared.
29:46: That word, shared, really changed my way of thinking.
29:51: Years ago, I always tell the story, one of the things that helped me come to a right understanding of the doctrine of the trinity was actually the song, Holy, Holy, Holy.
30:02: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, early in the morning my song shall rise to Thee.
30:08: Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons.
30:17: Blessed Trinity.
30:18: That song, I remember when I first heard it.
30:20: I actually heard it in a movie.
30:22: It wasn't even in church.
30:23: I mean, I'm sure I heard it in church, but in the movie, I was sitting in my chair, registered.
30:27: Oh, that makes sense.
30:28: One God, three persons.
30:31: Distinction made.
30:32: And it clicked.
30:35: But, the word share came into my vocabulary several years later.
30:41: How is it that there can be one God and three persons? Because those three persons are sharing one being.
30:52: And throughout the Bible, there are references to those three persons together.
30:56: One of my favorite references is when we baptize someone.
30:59: How do we baptize someone? I baptize you in what? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
31:15: See, that's the identity of the Trinity.
31:19: Three persons, one God.
31:22: This is why the Apostle Paul, when he's writing 2 Corinthians, he writes, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
31:33: He can reference all three together.
31:39: Still talking about the one God.
31:43: Jesus is called in Scripture, our God and Savior.
31:46: In fact, I will tell you this.
31:49: I do not believe you can understand John 1.1 unless you're a Trinitarian.
31:55: Go back to John 1.1.
31:57: This is our opening text.
31:58: In the beginning was the Word.
32:01: Key word there is was.
32:04: I don't want to get into all of the Greek in the literary context of it, but the word was there indicates already being.
32:15: It doesn't say, in the beginning the Word came.
32:17: It says, in the beginning the Word was.
32:19: It already was.
32:21: So, in the beginning was the Word.
32:24: And the Word was with God.
32:25: That's a reference to the Father.
32:27: And the Word was God.
32:28: That's a reference to His nature.
32:32: Now, if you've ever seen a New World Translation, and this isn't pick on Jehovah Witness Day.
32:37: It just happens to be their issue.
32:40: But a New World Translation is translated by Jehovah Witnesses.
32:44: Translated for Jehovah Witnesses by Jehovah Witnesses.
32:46: That's very convenient.
32:48: It's a very poor translation.
32:51: I say that not on my own accord, but on the accord of F.F.
32:55: Bruce, one of the greatest Greek scholars in the history of the world.
32:59: Said they demonstrate nothing but their ignorance of the Greek language.
33:02: So, be that as it may.
33:05: In the beginning was the Word.
33:07: The Word was with God.
33:09: And the Word was a God.
33:12: They add the indefinite article a at John 1.1.
33:15: Why? Because they say Jesus can't be the God.
33:20: He has to be a God.
33:21: A different kind of God.
33:26: And they abandon, at that point, true monotheism.
33:33: Because they say Jesus is a God, but not the God.
33:36: So that means there's what? Other gods.
33:40: Even if it's just Jesus.
33:42: He becomes a form of God, and thus they abandon monotheism for something called henotheism.
33:48: Henotheism is the idea that there's one God who's over other gods.
33:52: It's a tribal mentality.
33:54: If you've ever thought about how tribes look at their God as great, and the other tribes' God is great, and our God's greater than your God kind of thing.
34:01: It's an Old Testament principle.
34:03: Remember Baal, the God of the pagans, versus Jehovah, or Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, and it was always whose God's greater.
34:12: That's henotheism.
34:14: The idea that there's multiple gods, but our God's best.
34:19: So you got John 1.1.
34:21: In the beginning was the Word.
34:22: The Word was with God.
34:23: The Word was God.
34:24: Not was a God, but He was God.
34:27: He shared the divine being.
34:31: And again, that word share is of vital importance.
34:35: And that sharing is indivisible.
34:38: Jesus doesn't get one-third.
34:41: The Father doesn't get one-third.
34:43: And the Spirit doesn't get one-third.
34:44: But they share the fullness.
34:46: And that's why I want to go on to the next part of the confession.
34:48: And I got to start rolling a little quicker here.
34:52: Each having the whole divine essence.
34:55: What is the word there? Whole.
34:57: Each having the whole divine essence.
35:00: Not a part, not a third.
35:03: Yet the essence is undivided.
35:07: All infinite without beginning, therefore, but one God.
35:14: All that which is God is shared in its fullness between three persons.
35:18: The Father, the Word, who is Jesus, and the Spirit.
35:25: And the Bible reveals that they are all equal.
35:29: And all eternal.
35:31: And all God.
35:35: Finally, we see the distinctions of the Trinity are confessed.
35:38: It says, who is not to be divided in nature and being.
35:42: But distinguished by several peculiar relative properties.
35:47: Now that's a weird way of saying it in our modern language.
35:49: Because usually when we use the word peculiar.
35:52: Talking about me.
35:52: It laughs.
35:56: The word peculiar in our language tends to be negative.
36:00: If I looked at somebody and said, boy, he's peculiar.
36:04: That's a negative phrase.
36:06: But in this context, having been written several hundred years ago.
36:12: It's not insulting, it's referencing the distinctive characteristics of each person in the Trinity.
36:18: And this is where Trinitarianism really needs to be understood.
36:22: Because what you need to understand is the Father didn't die for your sins.
36:31: That's actually a false teaching called patrapassionism.
36:38: The belief that the Father died for your sins.
36:40: That's not what the Bible says.
36:43: Jesus died for your sins.
36:46: The Bible teaches that there's an economy in the Trinity.
36:49: And each person in the Trinity relates to the other one in a work of redemption.
36:54: The Father elects.
36:56: The Son redeems.
36:59: And the Spirit indwells.
37:02: People always talk about asking Jesus into your heart.
37:06: First of all, that's not a biblical phrase.
37:09: I'm not beating up on anybody who uses it, but it's not a biblical phrase.
37:13: Asking Jesus into your heart.
37:14: That's not how you become a Christian.
37:16: You become a Christian by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
37:20: We trust in the finished work of Christ.
37:23: And the Spirit makes His abode within us.
37:28: Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.
37:31: And the Spirit lives in us.
37:38: So, the economy of the Trinity is simple.
37:41: The Father has that which He does in redemption.
37:44: The Son has that which He does in redemption.
37:47: The Spirit has that which He does in redemption.
37:49: They are all God, but they're all working under the economy that they have determined.
37:58: God determined before the foundation of the world to save.
38:02: How He would save.
38:04: And by what method He would save.
38:07: And I've heard people say, well if you say Jesus is God, does that mean God died on the cross? Let me say this.
38:13: Jesus is the God-man.
38:16: I've heard Muslims make this argument in debates.
38:18: They've said, well if Jesus died on the cross and He's God, then what that means is that there was no God.
38:24: Because God was dead.
38:29: How would you respond? Jesus is the God-man.
38:36: And His humanity did die.
38:40: But never has the divinity died.
38:50: One of the great Trinitarian passages that I love to share with people is John 14, 16.
38:56: We read it as our opening text this morning.
38:58: We're starting to roll to a close now.
39:00: In John 14, 16, Jesus is speaking.
39:03: And all three members of the Trinity are mentioned.
39:05: It says, Jesus says, and I will pray to the Father.
39:09: So Jesus is speaking.
39:10: I'm going to pray to the Father.
39:12: And He will send you.
39:13: Alas perikletos.
39:14: That's the Greek for another comforter.
39:18: And you guys all know that, right? You've heard the Holy Spirit be called the comforter.
39:23: The word perikletos means the one who stands beside you to be in your help.
39:29: That's why the ESV calls it the helper.
39:32: The one who walks with you.
39:35: He comes alongside to help you.
39:37: He lives within you.
39:41: So Jesus says, I'm here now, but it's good for you that I go away.
39:44: Because if I go away, I will send to you the Spirit.
39:49: And He will abide with you forever.
39:56: Some people really believe that defining doctrine is not important.
40:03: And particularly doctrines that are difficult, like the Trinity, that we shouldn't even try.
40:11: Yet, you must understand, beloved, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, this is foundational to who we are.
40:20: And it has only been in the last 100 to 200 years that the church has given up its intellectual core and given over to an emotional shallowness where doctrine is considered bad.
40:37: And we should focus more on feelings.
40:40: I have feelings.
40:44: That may surprise you.
40:48: But my feelings should be rooted in the truth.
40:52: My emotions should be driven by the truth.
41:02: And consider what is involved in a denial of the Trinity.
41:06: A denial of the Trinity is a denial of God as who He is by nature.
41:11: It is a denial of the eternality and the divinity of Jesus Christ.
41:16: It is a denial of the personhood and distinct role in salvation of the Holy Spirit of God.
41:22: This is not secondary doctrine.
41:25: This is foundational Christian truth.
41:31: And if you're saying that you're worshipping God today, and yet you deny the divinity of Christ, you deny the person of the Holy Spirit, you are worshipping a false God.
41:45: But if you are worshipping the God of Scripture as He has described Himself, you are worshipping the God of Abraham.
41:53: You are worshipping the God of Moses, the God of the Old and the New Testaments.
41:57: And I ask, is that who you are worshipping today? Because may I say, if you are not worshipping that God, you're not worshipping the God of Scripture.
42:10: It's one thing to say, well, I didn't know the doctrine.
42:14: Now you can't say that.
42:19: Because it's much more dangerous to say, I know it and I deny it.
42:26: Because the denial of the Trinity is a denial of what the Bible says about God.
42:34: I want to end with a quote.
42:37: This is from Melito, Bishop of Sardis, from a sermon he preached in 180 AD.
42:43: Now why is that date significant? 180 AD was over 150 years before the Council of Nicaea.
42:52: I mentioned the Council of Nicaea earlier.
42:55: And some people believe that the Trinity wasn't believed until the Council of Nicaea.
42:58: And that the divinity of Jesus was not believed until the Council of Nicaea.
43:01: Such is so patently false and so easily disprovable that only a fool would make such a claim.
43:08: But I want to add this last quote.
43:10: Because this is actually a sermon which I believe was preached on Resurrection Sunday.
43:20: In 180 AD by Melito of Sardis.
43:26: And this is what he says.
43:27: He's talking about Jesus.
43:31: And so he was lifted up upon a tree, and an inscription was attached indicating who was being killed.
43:40: Who was it? It is a grievous thing to tell, but a most fearful thing to refrain from telling.
43:48: But listen as you tremble before Him on whose account the earth trembled.
43:54: He who hung the earth in place is hanged.
43:58: He who fixed the heavens in place is fixed in place.
44:03: He who made all things fast is made fast on a tree.
44:08: The sovereign is insulted.
44:10: God is murdered.
44:12: The King of Israel is destroyed by an Israelite hand.
44:15: This is the one who made the heavens and the earth and formed mankind in the beginning.
44:19: The one proclaimed by the law and the prophets.
44:22: The one enfleshed and a virgin.
44:23: The one hanged on a tree.
44:25: The one buried in the earth.
44:26: The one raised from the dead and who went up to the heights of heaven.
44:29: The one sitting at the right hand of the Father.
44:31: The one having all authority to judge and save.
44:33: Through whom the Father made the things that exist from the beginning of time.
44:38: This one is the Alpha and Omega.
44:40: This one is the beginning and the end.
44:42: The beginning indescribable and the end incomprehensible.
44:45: This one is the Christ.
44:46: This one is the King.
44:47: This one is Jesus.
44:49: This one is the leader.
44:50: This one is the Lord.
44:51: This one is the one who rose from the dead.
44:53: This is the one sitting on the right hand of the Father.
44:57: He bears the Father and is born by the Father.
45:00: To Him be glory and power forever.
45:05: Amen.
45:10: Father, I thank you for the consistent teaching of the Church regarding who you are.
45:18: A teaching which beyond all others we may stand upon as the firm teaching of Scripture.
45:29: I pray now as we move into our time for Communion that we would remember the work of the Father, the work of the Son, and the work of the Spirit in bringing about our salvation.
45:41: And Lord, if there are those here who know not Christ, whether they be young or old, I pray God that conviction would fall on their heart and they would see that salvation, which is provided by you, comes through Christ and Him alone.
46:05: And it's in His name we pray.
46:08: Amen.
46:10: Let's stand and sing.