Turn, as you know, to Colossians chapter 2,
verse 9, as we continue our study together.
And we are looking at, this morning, Christ
and the Trinity.
And we are going to be setting our
plow deep this morning in the study of
the word.
I want to repeat that.
I know you're turning in your pages and
you're getting into position.
If you're visiting Calvary Chapel for the first
time this morning, I don't want to know
it.
I'm glad that you're here, but I don't
want to be distracted with the fact that
maybe you're new.
Maybe you're new to Christianity or maybe you're
considering Christianity.
I don't know.
Maybe you're in a cult.
Well, you've certainly picked the right day to
come here.
My prayer and my heart's desire is that
this message would come across as clear as
is spiritually possible.
I've studied so much for this message and
every time I study too much, that usually
turns out to be a disaster for you.
I've got so much in my head.
How it's going to come out, I don't
exactly know.
But it's important, and the reason why I'm
stressing this this morning is because the doctrine
of the Trinity is essential to Christian faith.
It is one of those few things out
of what is considered the creed or Christian
essentials that sets us apart from all other
belief system in the world.
And in Colossians 2, verse 9, as you
see, it says, for in Christ, all the
fullness of the Godhead, or we could insert
Trinity, dwells in bodily form.
And we do no harm to the text
by saying so in that fashion.
Christ and the Trinity.
It is literally the study of the fellowship
of the eternal Godhead.
The Bible makes it clear, and we'll see
this morning, that there are many passages of
Scripture that tell us that there is God
the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit.
Yet this doctrine is vehemently resisted at your
doorstep with various cults that might visit your
house.
Or maybe brand new Christians don't quite understand
it.
Maybe they haven't read about it.
But once they read the Scripture from cover
to cover, they come to the understanding.
Now let me say something here, and I
don't want you to think that I'm trying
to set up some kind of a blanket
statement that if you don't get this morning's
teaching, then something's wrong with you.
I'm not saying that.
But I will say this.
Concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, as so
concerning the doctrine of the church.
How is it that the church, it says,
is the body of Christ?
Paul the Apostle says concerning that truth, it's
a mystery.
Now that word mystery doesn't mean that it's
something that you can never know.
The word in Greek means a mystery that
from this point previously has been unknowable.
It has been hidden.
It's a truth that has always existed, but
has never been revealed.
And Paul makes that clear in the book
of Ephesians chapter five.
Well, concerning this mystery of the Trinity, there
are hints of it in the Old Testament.
We'll see some this morning.
But it is a mystery as the Scripture
speaks.
Paul says this in Corinthians, that the Trinity,
even though that word's not found in the
Bible, we'll come across that in a moment.
The doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery.
Not something unknowable, something that has been concealed,
but in these last days revealed.
It's important that you understand that.
Now all of you looked at me, which
means none of you wrote down what I
just said.
So I'm gonna believe that you are gonna
put that into memory.
When somebody knocks on your door, you're gonna
need to be able to tell them what
I'm gonna explain to you, in many ways
seems illogical.
But we'll see how actually in Scripture and
in real logic and reason, it makes absolute
sense.
And so for all of us this morning,
the concept of God, can you jot that
down?
The concept of God?
Everybody's got their concept of God, but we
could really, and the Bible could really care
less about what your or my concept of
God is, if it deviates from the truth.
The concept of God is His very nature,
is His essence.
We're gonna talk about that.
The thought, the idea, God's essence, we must
consider and in doing so, looking at Scripture
come to the conclusion that the Trinity is
not only essential, but is in fact clearly
taught in the Bible.
And by the way, it is not exclusively
New Testament doctrine.
By the way, man can no longer claim
ignorance concerning God and His essence or His
nature, essence and nature being the same definition.
In Romans 1, verse 20, the Bible says,
for since the creation of the world, we
studied that last week, His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things which
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
plurality, Trinity, so that they are without excuse.
The fact of the matter is, people who
understand in their Bible that the Trinity exists
can only do so by revelation of the
Holy Spirit Himself.
Let me say that again.
People who understand regarding the doctrine of the
Trinity can only come to that conclusion based
upon the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
There are those who don't have the Holy
Spirit.
In other words, they're not a Christian, they're
not in the body of Christ, and they
can't even come close to figuring out that
there's the Father, there's the Son, there's the
Holy Spirit.
This is a critical issue.
One, and people, I'm gonna tell you, I
am shocked to have read so much this
week on this topic to find out, as
each one of these authors spoke about the
Trinity, how they all agreed that churches around
the world, Christian churches, either A, are ignorant
concerning this fact, or B, very, very lightly,
if at all, study this doctrine whatsoever.
So you might this morning be saying, Jack,
what are we gonna get into this topic
for?
I already know it.
Well, then you're gonna be refreshed about some
things.
But there are many Christians, according to statistics,
who don't understand this doctrine, which to me
is pathetic because it is a Christian essential.
The Trinity, or the triunity of God.
God makes it very clear in the Bible
that He demands that He be known.
He begs to be known.
In Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 11 to 13,
God says, therefore, I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give
you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go
and pray to Me, and I will listen
to you, and you will seek Me, and
you will find Me when you have searched
for Me with all of your hearts.
So God desires us to search after Him.
In John chapter five, verse 39, Jesus says,
you search the Scriptures, for in them you
think that you have eternal life, but these
are they which do testify of Me.
Jesus is claiming that the Bible is written
about Him.
So the question about who God is is
extremely important.
And what God is, is extremely important.
But according to biblical doctrine, it is beyond
contradiction or beyond debate.
In fact, the Scripture says in Galatians 4,
for but when the fullness of time had
come, that means at the right time, God
sent forth who?
His Son, Jesus Christ.
Remember that as we go through this study.
And then before we dive into this, 1
Timothy 3.16, one of my favorite passages
in the Bible, 1 Timothy 3.16 says,
beyond all question or beyond all debate, the
mystery of godliness is great.
He appeared in a body.
Who did?
God did, in a body.
He was vindicated by the Spirit.
He was seen by angels.
He was preached among the nations, and He
was believed on in the world, and He
was received back up into glory.
What a great verse that is, 1 Timothy
3.16. Great is the mystery of godliness.
The Trinity is one great mystery of God.
The Trinity goes beyond, listen, the Trinity goes
beyond human reason, because our God is that
great, but it does not violate human reason.
Can you remember that?
That the doctrine of the Trinity goes beyond
human reason, but it does not contradict reason.
There is, in fact, the study of the
Trinity goes against what is called the law
of contradiction.
If you read the Bible from cover to
cover, you will be confirmed about the fact
that we serve a God who is comprised
of three independent persons.
How can we clearly explain it?
Well, that's the burden that's on my head
this morning.
We'll try to do our best this morning.
The first thing that we see this morning
concerning this is regarding the essence of the
Trinity.
The essence of the Trinity.
The Trinity is seen in scripture by giving
us what is called the essence of God
or the nature.
Maybe you've already jotted that down, but the
nature or essence of God.
And you say, well, Jack, the word Trinity
doesn't appear in the Bible.
That's exactly right.
The word Trinity does not appear in the
Bible, but neither does the word Bible.
By the way, neither does the word rapture,
at least in English.
It appears in the Latin version of the
Bible, rapture, but you won't find it in
English, yet it's an actual doctrinal fact.
Well, the Bible doesn't mention the word Bible,
but we know it's a fact.
It's sitting in your lap right now.
The doctrine of the Trinity, extremely important.
Yet the Trinity is maintained in scripture that
God has been revealed to us in three
distinct persons.
Listen, yet in one essence, so now you're
confusing me.
Just listen carefully.
God has revealed himself to mankind via three
persons, actual personalities.
Don't make the mistake in thinking that persons
and personalities are only describing that of a
human.
I always love to say this.
You know what I'm gonna say, some of
you who've been around here a while, God
is not a human.
It was a big deal for Jesus to
come to earth and become one.
We've got this thing in our mind that
God is some huge human.
He's 49 feet tall.
No, he's not.
Well, I mean, I don't know how tall
he is, but he's not a big human.
The cults would have us believe that Jesus
or God is a glorified human.
He's not at all.
He is a person.
The Bible speaks of him in the personal
pronoun and the singular in Greek and in
Hebrew.
He is a person.
And yet as the word in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth, the
word there for God is Elohim.
Anytime you look at the Hebrew word or
scriptures and you come to I am on
the end, it is plurality.
God is singular.
Don't ask me to explain it.
Nobody can.
God says of himself, he is one God
and he has a plurality about him.
Do we believe in three gods as Judeo
-Christian belief?
I say Judeo-Christian because Judeo-Christian belief
is so close and parallel regarding this issue.
Do we believe in three gods?
The Bible says no.
We are not polytheistic.
To be a polytheist is to believe in
many gods.
Maybe you're a Mormon.
You are a polytheist and you're proud about
that.
You believe in many gods.
Maybe you're Hindu.
Maybe you're a Buddhist and you believe in
many gods.
Well, the Bible says, no, there are not
many gods.
There's but one God.
In Galatians chapter one verse 26, Galatians one
or sorry, Genesis 1 26 says, then God
said, let us, plural, make man in our
image.
Now, we were not made in the image
of angels.
You might say, well, maybe he was talking
to an angel that was standing nearby.
Oh, no, no.
He's talking about God bringing forth mankind in
his own image.
That is, we are free moral agencies.
We pick and choose.
You pick and choose what you wore this
morning.
As you can tell, I did and nobody
dressed me.
When my house is asleep, I grab what's
hanging or what looks most ironed.
It's the way I figure.
If God wants me to wear it, it
looks like it's been ironed.
And so I put it on.
Well, listen, we are free moral agents.
God has given that ability to us.
We have a little bit of sovereignty, if
I can put it that way.
Today, you're gonna choose what you're gonna have
for breakfast after service.
It's not pre-programmed or pre-packaged.
It may be pre-packaged, but not in
the mind of God.
He knows all things, but you are gonna
go pick.
You're gonna pick up a menu maybe, and
you're gonna look and you're gonna pick.
You have that ability.
But the very important thing is that we
realize as we look to the study this
morning that the essence of the Trinity, when
we say essence, we also mean nature.
And we see here that there's a monotheism
of the Trinity.
What is that?
Well, you know what mono means, don't you?
It means singular.
Theism is God or the study of God.
The study of the singular God.
We believe in one God.
The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 6, 4,
the Shema, if you know this in Hebrew,
and you're in Israel, they'll shout the Shema.
And it is this, Deuteronomy 6, 4.
Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord.
Yet in that very declaration, and the Hebrew
scholars are caught up in a conundrum over
this.
They can't understand it.
And that is, hero Israel, God, singular yet
in a plurality, is one.
Deuteronomy 6, 4, what a great scripture that
is.
God is one, yet there's already in that
portion of scripture as it was in Genesis,
the hint of the plurality.
But yet there's one God.
In 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6.
If I go fast, that's because I'm excited,
and I also want you out of here
on time today.
I terribly violated your time yesterday, and I
was beating myself up all week about that.
And I gotta tell you something.
I came to this conclusion.
I don't think it was God because it
was too carnal.
It was my thought.
I thought, now wait a minute.
We stayed 20 minutes over service last time
in all three services, and some of you
said, whoa, following in the footsteps of Hal
Lindsey, are you?
Because how far he went over, 70 minutes
that guy talked.
I timed him, loved every minute of it.
I don't know about you, but I had
nothing better going on that day.
And when I go over, I'm sorry about
that, but the thing is, what else do
we have to do?
We're looking at the word of God.
We spend maybe all week, at least me,
I watched 40 hours of news probably in
a week.
For crying out loud, if we go over
10 minutes in the study of God, what
harm, foul is there?
So with that being said, I feel better
today.
Thank you for indulging me for a moment.
The Trinity of God, the doctrine, the essence
of it, the Trinity, we see that there's
the monotheism.
And so in 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6,
Paul says, for us there is but one
God, Elohim.
Singular plurality, go and explain it.
That's the hard thing to do.
That's what I'm trying to do this morning.
It's in scripture, but how do you put
it into human words?
The second thing we see is that there's
a plurality of the Trinity.
There's the plurality.
By plurality, we mean how God relates to
himself.
Say what?
That's not what the word means to me.
Yeah, I know.
But this is what it means in biblical
theology.
Plurality is how God relates to himself.
Did you get that?
God's not psychotic.
He doesn't talk to himself.
He does not have multiple personalities.
Gee, what color do we want to make
the world?
Gee, I don't know.
What color do you think we should make
it?
Gee, I don't.
And he doesn't sit and have a conversation
with himself.
The son speaks to the father.
The father speaks to the son.
The spirit speaks to the son.
The spirit speaks to the father.
On an ongoing true definition of the original
word, dialogue.
God dialogues among himself.
Singular in the Trinity.
Plural.
Amazing.
Well, Jack, I don't like this because I
can't figure it out.
I can't see it.
I know that's one of those things, but
we're going to do our best to help
you to kind of get a touch of
it this morning.
And maybe for some of you that are
steeped in a cult, maybe this will liberate
your thinking this morning in a wonderful way.
Listen, an example.
Hebrews 9, verse 14.
Concerning the plurality of the Trinity.
Hebrews 9, 14.
Listen carefully.
He says there, how much more shall the
blood of Christ, I circle Christ, who through
the eternal spirit, I circle eternal spirits, offer
himself without spot to God.
Yes, that speaks of the father, but the
word again is of God in totality.
Did you get that?
Right there in Hebrews 9, 14 is Christ,
which we'll show you this morning is God.
The spirit, which we'll show you this morning
in the scriptures is God.
And there he speaks of God in totality.
Hebrews 9, 14.
Norman Geisler gives this illustration and I quote
Norman Geisler this morning in case you don't
get it, you can blame it on him.
And here it is.
Are you ready?
Quote, it has been said that God is
one what?
With what in quotes.
That God is one what?
Essence.
What would be essence or nature?
And three who's, which are his person.
Oh man, did you get that?
It has been said that God is one
what?
Quote, close quotes.
And three who's, quotes there, which are the
persons.
The who is the persons, the what is
his nature or essence.
Let me help you and this is kind
of neat.
And we steal this from a concept of
a man that you know, a guy by
the name of Albert Einstein concerning the perfection
of mathematics.
And by the way, Norman Geisler came up
and said that he agreed with Einstein.
Einstein said that because math is absolutely perfect,
which I told you before is why we
hate it so much.
It's perfect.
It can only speak of a creative God.
Math is perfect, thus God must be true.
Because it is, so to speak, mathematics is
sinless because it's perfect.
Even though it's not a person, it's a
thing.
So check this out.
This is amazing.
And I hope this does something for you
because it did something for me.
Check it out.
It says here that the closest illustration is
this.
Not one plus one plus one equals three.
That would be Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism.
But in Christianity, and in fact, Judeo-Christian
teaching, one times one times one equals one.
All and each are equal, yet they maintain
an identity.
Each one of those ones that you see
on the screen have all the authority, all
the power, all the attributes of the number
one.
But with God, one is not the loneliest
number.
It may be for you or me, but
not God.
One times one times one equals one.
How about this?
One father times one son times one spirit
equals one God.
Do you see that?
Does that help?
I think that helps tremendously.
And now you kind of agree with Einstein's
observation that because math is perfect, it speaks
of a God who created who's perfect.
The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
They're not three gods, but one God.
Each are equal.
Each have their identity.
Each have their purpose as we'll see this
morning.
But I found that to be extremely helpful.
Another consideration is this.
The triangle in geometrical form.
The triangle.
A triangle is three sides of an equal
dimension or length or power.
We can put it that way.
You can put one side of the triangle
blue, one side yellow, and one side green.
But the three of them form how many
triangles?
One triangle.
Yet the sides are all equal.
Very, very important.
And I think a very powerful picture that's
seen.
So this is a very, very exciting, I
think, way to look at it.
The third thing that we see this morning
is this.
That there's a unity to the Trinity.
There's a unity.
I'm gonna give you some scriptures and then
we'll be off to the second point.
I gave you this one earlier, but we'll
give it to you in its totality.
In 1 Corinthians 8, verse six, Paul says,
"'For us, there is but one God, the
Father, "'of whom are all things, and we
are for him.' "'And,' connecting statement, "'one Lord
Jesus Christ.'" God is the Father and the
Son and the Spirit.
1 John 5, verse seven.
1 John 5, seven says, "'There are three
that bear witness in heaven, "'the Father, the
Word.'" You know who the Word is, right?
The Logos, the Word.
It's in capital letters there.
The Word, that's Jesus.
"'There are three that bear witness in heaven,
"'the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.
"'These three are one.'" 1 John 5, seven.
John chapter eight, verse 29.
Am I going too fast?
"'And he who sent me,' Jesus said, "'is
with me.
"'The Father has not left me alone, "'for
I always do those things that please him.'"
Now you say, Jack, I understand that.
There's the Father and there's the Son.
But listen, in our Western thinking, you better
divorce yourself of one thing right now.
In the Bible, the Son is not less
than the Father.
Remember, we talked about this before under the
person of Jesus Christ in our earlier study.
Remember, in the Hebrew culture and in your
Bible, if you want an answer of authority,
you don't have to talk to the Father.
You can just go knock on the door.
And if the Son opens the door, who
represents the household, whatever the Son says in
the Jewish mind, it honors the Father.
Are you with me on that?
You remember that.
Well, I wanna speak to your Father.
You know, that's what we do here in
this Western culture.
I don't wanna talk to you.
I wanna talk to your Father.
Well, you can speak to me.
I've been authorized to do all that my
Father would have done.
Oh, really?
See, that's how Jesus came.
Jesus didn't somehow lessen Himself to become the
Son of God.
He came to perform a purpose.
He was always God.
We saw that in Christ and His eternal
existence, Christ from eternity.
He has always existed.
And so when the Son says something, it's
exactly what the Father would say.
When the Son authorizes something, it's exactly what
the Father authorizes.
When the Son lets a woman go who's
been caught in the act of adultery, so
the Father lets her go.
When Jesus opens the eyes of the blind,
He's doing exactly the will of the Father.
Are you with me?
Do you understand that?
It's very simple when you look at it
in the Hebrew mind or in the Mideast
understanding.
The second thing that we see this morning
is this.
And that is Jesus, the Father and the
Trinity.
We need to understand this.
Jesus, the Father and the Trinity.
Very, very important.
They are one.
In 2 John 1, verses, or chapters one
through nine, or one in 2 John 1,
verse nine, says, whoever transgresses and does not
abide in the doctrine of Christ does not
have God.
He who abides in the doctrine of Christ
has both the Father and the Son.
I don't know about you, but that gets
me excited.
Those of you who are witnessing to people
and you come up with this doctrine of
the Trinity question, you know, I love them
dearly, but they're in gross error.
And that's our friends who are Jehovah Witnesses.
They love to talk about this topic.
They love it.
Because to them, it's illogical.
It's unreasonable.
You can't come to a conclusion regarding this
person of the Trinity.
And they say that you believe in false
doctrine.
That's not true whatsoever.
Just because God is beyond human reason doesn't
mean that it's illogical.
God created the heavens and the earth and
all that is in it.
That may be unreasonable to you, but not
to God.
They are one.
Jesus said in John chapter 10, I and
my Father are one.
The next thing that we see regarding Jesus,
the Father and the Trinity, that they are
one, also is that they are absolute.
They are absolute.
I'm gonna ask you to jot down three
things regarding how absolute they are.
And by the way, just right now, we're
mentioning Jesus and the Father, but all these
attributes I'm gonna give you are also attributed
to the Spirit.
They are, write it down, omnipotent.
Omni means all, all powerful, omnipotent.
God the Father is recorded in scripture as
being all powerful.
Jesus says in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18,
it says, Jesus spoke to them and said,
all power has been given unto me in
heaven and in earth.
Friend, if you've got all power that's in
heaven and on earth, you've got all power.
You are omnipotent.
Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is
omnipotent.
You and I have no problem giving that
attribute to God, but listen, somebody might ask
you, is God omnipotent?
You say, well, of course he is.
Now watch this.
If you know your Bible and somebody says,
well, then is the Holy Spirit omnipotent?
You better know the answer to that question.
Do you know what it is?
Yes.
The Bible says in Psalm 139, whether shall
I go from thy spirit or where shall
I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend into hell, thou art there.
If I go to the heights of heaven,
behold, thou art there.
So not only is God omnipotent, the Holy
Spirit, Jesus, the Father, because they are God,
singular, are omnipresent.
You say, well, I don't know if I
understand that.
Omni means all, present means present.
David, Jeremiah was singing earlier and said, we
come into your presence with thanksgiving.
A friend of mine, cute little story, his
father, they're all praying together.
Lord, we just come now to your presence.
We come now to your presence and days
went by.
Lord, we come to your presence this morning.
We wanna thank you for this day.
And by the end of the week, his
little son said, you know what?
I gotta ask you something, dad.
When are we gonna get the presence?
I thought that was cute.
We come to your presence.
Well, where are they?
God is omnipresent.
He's everywhere.
Psalm 139, verse seven and eight.
He's omniscient.
The word omniscient is all knowing.
By the way, I don't have the scripture
reference in front of me, but the verse
comes to my mind.
The Bible says that the seven eyes of
the Spirit are upon us.
Seven eyes.
Well, it's symbolic language.
It means totality, the completeness of God.
He sees all.
He knows all.
There's nothing hidden from him.
And 1 John 3, 20.
It says, for our hearts, if our heart
condemns us.
By the way, don't raise your hand, but
are you feeling a little spiritually under the
weather?
Do you feel like you're blowing it as
a Christian?
That you're somehow drowning in failure?
You just seem to be falling apart.
Well, first of all, get baptized in the
power of the Holy Spirit, for one thing.
And then secondly, listen to this verse.
It says, for if our heart condemns us,
God is greater than our heart and knows
all things.
Amen, isn't that wonderful?
Do you feel condemned?
Man, I'm just such a rotten Christian.
God says, hey, I know you.
I know you're a bumbling knucklehead.
Don't condemn yourself anymore.
I know you.
I know your heart.
You wanna follow me.
It's beautiful.
Well, the next thing that we wanna go
to is this, and that's point number three,
and that is Jesus, the Spirit, and the
Trinity.
Jesus, the Spirit, and the Trinity.
And the first thing that we see here
is this, that Jesus, the Spirit, Jesus and
the Spirit, they have personality.
Now we can all say, well, of course,
Jesus has a personality, but the Spirit, for
many people, the Holy Spirit is almost somebody
that they're afraid of.
Why?
Because some people have a hard time relating
to him.
How do we call him?
What is a him?
Well, he's always spoken of in scripture with
the personal pronoun.
Did you know that?
Ladies, I don't mean to be offensive by
this, but God says in his original scripture
that he is a he.
But take heart, he's nothing like us men.
But he speaks of himself in a male
gender.
Don't know why?
Just that he is.
He says he's a he.
And the Holy Spirit, throughout scripture, says that
he is a he.
Personal pronoun.
Jesus, we can relate to him, no problem.
Jesus, the Spirit, and personality.
In 2 Samuel, chapter 23, verse two.
2 Samuel 23, two says, the Spirit of
the Lord spoke to me and his words
were on my tongue.
That's interesting.
The Holy Spirit speaks.
He has that power.
Not only that, in Acts, chapter 13, verse
two.
There the Bible says, and as they ministered
under the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit
said, quote, now separate to me Barnabas and
Saul for the work to which I have
called them.
I, personal pronoun, describing whom?
The Holy Spirit.
He is a person.
He can speak.
Thank God he does.
When was the last time you heard from
him, by the way?
He loves to use the Bible.
Jesus even told us.
He said, when the Holy Spirit comes, he
will speak whatsoever things I've commanded you.
And he will teach you and what is
implied from the word of God.
You want the Holy Spirit to speak to
you.
Read your Bible.
That's all I can tell you.
You don't read your Bible, you won't hear
God speak.
Anybody who says, I don't hear God speak,
I know this is just between us.
But when somebody says to me, I don't
hear God speak, either A, they're not reading
their Bible or B, they haven't learned to
understand or recognize his voice when he speaks.
And again, there's always this one.
When you do something wrong, he always seems
to speak very loud and clear.
I have no problem hearing him when I'm
either thinking about doing something wrong or have
done it.
And it's always, Jack.
It's never, Jack.
It's, Jack.
Yes, sir.
He's just got this tone, you know, in
his voice.
Jot this down concerning the person of the
Holy Spirit.
And it's obvious that we know this concerning
Jesus, but the Holy Spirit, he has a
will.
He has a will.
I'll give you one verse, though there are
many.
Isaiah 48, 16.
Isaiah 48, 16 says, "'Come near to me.
"'Hear this.
"'I have not spoken in secret from the
beginning.
"'From the time that was passed, I was
there.
"'And now the Lord God and his spirit
have sent me.'" Isn't that wonderful?
He has a will.
I'll throw in another scripture, even though I
told you I wasn't gonna give you another
one.
In the book of Ephesians chapter four, the
Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the
one who gives gifts to the members of
the body of Christ.
Jesus doesn't give them.
The Father doesn't give them.
The Holy Spirit gives them.
Interesting.
He has emotions.
The Holy Spirit has emotions.
Isaiah 63, verse 10 says, "'But they rebelled
and grieved.'" The word in Hebrew is made
angry.
"'They rebelled and made angry His Holy Spirit.
"'So the Spirit turned and became their enemy
"'and He fought against them.'" This is in
relation to the children of Israel going through
the desert.
Can you imagine?
Can you imagine so upsetting the Holy Spirit
that He turns and becomes your enemy?
Wow.
Isaiah 63, 10.
"'You can make angry the Holy Spirit.'" The
Bible says in Thessalonians, "'Don't grieve the Holy
Spirit.'" He has an intellect.
He has a mind.
In 1 Corinthians 2, 10, the Bible says,
"'But God has revealed them to us through
His Spirit.
"'For the Spirit searches all things, "'yes, the
deep things of God.'" He has an intellect.
He has deep, obviously, deep understanding.
Also this we go to.
Jesus, the Spirit and personality.
Also Jesus, the Spirit and purpose.
And people, we need to go quick with
this, okay?
I'm gonna run through these very quickly.
The purpose, Matthew 1, verse 18.
"'Now the birth of Jesus Christ is as
follows.
"'After His mother was engaged to Joseph "'before
they had union, physical union, "'before they had
sex, "'she was found to be with child
of the Holy Spirit.'" That was the purpose
of God.
The purpose of the Trinity was at work.
How did Mary become pregnant?
By the person of the Holy Spirit.
Her humanity, by the way, her DNA, her
bloodline was in Jesus, but not Joseph's.
If you know the Bible well, you know
that from the curse of Jeconiah, none of
his descendants, which Joseph was related to, could
have the blood in the Messiah.
So what did God do?
God had the Holy Spirit just, and she
was pregnant.
A miraculous conception by God.
Titus chapter three, verses four through six.
Titus three, four through six says, "'But when
the kindness and the love of God, "'our
Savior toward men appeared, "'not by works of
righteousness which we have done, "'but according to
His own mercies He has saved us, "'through
the washing of the regeneration "'and the renewing
by the Holy Spirit, "'whom He poured out
on us abundantly "'through Jesus Christ, our Savior.'"
There's the Trinity right there in those few
verses.
On and on I could go, I'll give
them to you, you can jot them down.
I can't read all these passages in front
of me, but John chapter 16, verse seven
and eight, John 14, 16 through 18, all
of these speak about the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit regarding the great purpose
of the Trinity.
The next thing that we see also is
this.
Jesus, the Spirit, and prerogative, that is prerogative
having the right or the position, the privilege
or authority.
The Bible makes it very clear in Genesis
chapter one, verse two, that it was the
Holy Spirit who was brooding over the waters
of creation.
The Holy Spirit was a tool, so to
speak, at the workful hands of Jesus.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter one that
it is Jesus who was in fact the
creator.
But Genesis one, verse two, says the Spirit
was moving upon the creative powers of the
earth.
Also, not only is the prerogative of the
Spirit and of Jesus of the Trinity to
be a creator, but also the divine judge.
In Joel chapter three, verse 12, the Bible
says that all the nations in the last
moments of world history as we know it,
the nations will be gathered together there in
the valley of Jehoshaphat or Armageddon.
And it says there that God will sit
upon his throne and judge the nations.
Well, in Matthew chapter 25, you have that
fulfilled.
At the end of the second coming of
Christ, the battle of Armageddon there has now
come to a conclusion.
And in Matthew chapter 25, there Jesus separates
the nations, the sheep from the goats, not
Christians.
It is not Christians or non-Christians.
It is the nations from Israel and the
final judgment upon this earth.
The prerogative of the Spirit of God is
that he's judge.
Also, that he's the authority.
Are you guys all right?
That he's the authority.
Very quickly, the Holy Spirit.
Acts chapter five, verses three through four.
But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled
your heart that you should lie to the
Holy Spirit?
Can you lie to an it?
You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you
that the Holy Spirit is an it.
It's a force.
It's, no, it's not.
He's a person.
Can you lie to an it?
You can lie to the flagpole out here
all the time of day there.
It's not gonna do anything to you.
But if you lie to somebody, you're gonna
upset them.
Jesus told, or Peter, excuse me, told Ananias,
why have you lied to the Holy Spirit?
You have not lied unto man, but unto
God.
Wow, Acts chapter five, Luke 3, 21.
And it came to pass that Jesus, when
he was baptized, and while he prayed, the
heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in a bodily form like a
dove.
And a voice came from heaven, not the
spirit, but from heaven saying, you are my
beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
There's the Trinity right there.
And then our fourth and final point, and
I've got some great stuff for you here.
This is exciting.
I hope you're ready.
Are you guys ready, kind of ready to
write this down?
This is really gonna help you in a
huge way.
Jesus, the son of the Trinity.
I like that.
I like that little tie.
I made it up myself.
Jesus, the son of the Trinity.
I love that.
Jesus Christ, the son of creation.
I think we know about that.
We understand that.
But listen, Jesus, the son of the Trinity.
Listen, in John chapter eight, verse 56, begins
there where Jesus says, your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it.
He's speaking to the scribes and Pharisees.
And he was glad.
Then the Jews said to him, you are
not yet 50 years of age.
How then can you say that you've seen
Abraham?
Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say
to you before Abraham was, I am.
Oh yeah, we'll come back to that in
a moment.
That's awesome.
That's the eternal name of God, the I
am.
And by the way, when he said, I
am, in John chapter 10, verse 31, it
says there that they picked up stones to
kill him for saying that.
You know, some people say, well, Jesus never
claimed to be God.
That's another admission of biblical ignorance.
In John chapter 10, verse 31, they understood
exactly what he said.
Then the Jews took up stones again to
throw at him.
But Jesus answered and said to them, for
many good works I've done from you, from
my father, which of these works do you
stone me for?
And you can just see them.
It's like, and they rear back and he
goes, hey, for which work are you gonna
stone me for?
What are you gonna kill me for now?
And you can write right in mid pitch.
Well, we're not gonna stone you for any
work that you've done, but because you blaspheme,
because you being a man declare yourself to
be God.
John chapter 10, verses 31 to 33.
That's rather clear, don't you think?
Well, Jesus, the son, the son of creation.
We don't need to go into that because
we've done it already.
Jesus Christ, the son of salvation.
Now I'm gonna go through this and I
want you to grab this.
This is precious, you all know it.
John 3, 16, I want you to hear
it because maybe it's gonna make an impact
like never before.
For God, who's that?
Well, God, singular plurality.
So you could say the father, the son,
the Holy Spirit, soul of the world, that
he gave his only glorified son or begotten
son that whosoever would believe in him would
not perish but have everlasting life.
Now listen, 1 John 3, 16, not John
3, 16, but this next one.
1 John 3, 16 says, "'By this we
know love because he laid down his life
for us.'" Who did?
Come on, don't be shy.
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
But if you read John 3, 16, Jesus
came out from God.
That means God laid down his life for
us.
That's not too difficult to understand.
But I hope this morning it's graphically made
clear.
I'm gonna show you something here.
I want you to take a close look
at this and I'll explain something.
First of all, look again at that second
point.
Jesus Christ, the son of salvation.
You see that?
The Bible says there's no other way to
get to heaven.
Jesus says, I am the way, the truth
and the life.
And no man comes to the father but
through me.
Do you believe that?
Do you think that Satan hates that truth?
Do you think that he wants to oppose
it?
Do you think he wants to send a
message out against it?
Listen, this is extremely important.
Look at that.
Jesus Christ, he is our salvation.
It's either a spiritual fact or who could
care less about it?
Check this out.
This is the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem.
Around the edge of that, do you see
the large portion of it?
You see the gold dome there, obviously.
And you see now the bigger base underneath.
Written in Aramaic or Arabic.
Around that high point there in Jerusalem, on
the Temple Mount, by the way, it's the
highest structure on the Temple Mount.
Listen to what it says.
God is not begotten.
Neither does God have a son.
Why would the Muslims put that on one
of their most holy shrines?
Why there on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?
That is a declaration.
That cover-up, that attempted cover-up proclaims
the truth.
That's the last thing Satan wants people to
know is that Jesus Christ is God's son.
It's awesome.
Not only that, but listen to this.
The scripture teaches us who is a liar,
but he who denies that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Savior, the Christ.
He is antichrist who denies the Father and
the Son.
That's powerful.
Jesus Christ, the Son for eternity.
And listen, we'll wrap it up right here.
Jot these down and we'll be done.
Are you ready for this?
This is fun stuff here.
Isaiah 48, 12.
There you can see it.
I'll read it to you.
Jesus Christ is in fact God.
Isaiah 48, 12.
Listen to me, O Jacob, and hear me,
Israel.
My called, I am he.
I am the first and I am the
last.
Isaiah 48, 12.
Isaiah 44, 6.
You can write them down.
You see them on the screen.
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
I am the first and I am with
the last, and besides me there is no
God.
How many gods are there?
One.
He says, I am the first and I
am the last.
That's one God speaking.
That's Isaiah 44, 6.
Isaiah 41, verse 4.
Isaiah 41, 4 says, Who has performed and
done it, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the first.
Get a load of this.
And I am with the last.
You get that?
Isn't that something?
Next one, Isaiah 43, 10.
We're almost done.
Isaiah 43, 10.
You are my witnesses.
Well, who are his witnesses?
We'll find out in a minute.
You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and
my servant, whom I have chosen, that you
may know and believe me and understand that
I am he.
Before me there was no God formed, neither
shall there be after me.
One God, only one.
Look at the next verse, Revelation 1, 8.
Revelation 1, 8, jot it down.
He says, I am the alpha and the
omega, the beginning and the end, says the
Lord, who is, who was, who is to
come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1, 8.
Next one, Revelation 1, 11.
Are you getting writer's cramp?
Oh, but you're gonna get smart.
We'll be over, we'll be done soon.
You'll be so smart.
Revelation 1, 11, I am the alpha and
the omega, the first and the last.
Revelation 4, 8.
And the four living creatures, each having six
wings with full of eyes around and within,
they do not rest day or night, and
they say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
who was, who is, who is to come.
Revelation 22, 13.
I am the alpha and the omega, the
beginning and the end, the first and the
last.
That's only the attributes or the qualities given
to one God, one God only.
Revelation 21, 6.
And he said to me, it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega, the
beginning and the end.
We're all talking about the same God, Yahweh
God, or in English, you would say Jehovah
God.
Well, Revelation 1, 17.
John says, and when I saw him, I
fell at his feet as though I were
dead, but he laid his right hand upon
me and he says, do not be afraid,
I am the first and the last.
Anybody have any doubt who that is?
There's only one first and the last.
We'll look at Revelation 1, verses 17 and
18.
And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as one dead, but he laid
his right hand upon me saying, do not
be afraid, I am the first and I
am the last.
I am he who lives and was dead,
and behold him alive forevermore.
Any questions?
Revelation 2, 8.
These things says he who is the first
and the last who was dead and came
back to life.
Wow, God died.
God died 2000 years ago on a cross.
How did he do it?
By the person of Jesus Christ, God the
Son.
1 John 5, 20.
And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us the understanding
to know him who is true.
And we are in him who is true,
in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life.
1 Timothy 3, 16.
We've already read it this morning.
So we'll skip to Titus 2, 13.
That we are to be looking for the
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
John 8, 58.
Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say
to you before Abraham was, I am.
Exodus 3, 14.
And God said to Moses, I am who
that I am.
And he said, thus you shall say to
the children of Israel, I am sent you.
Isn't that awesome?
I don't know about you, but if this
was a Pentecostal church, we all would have
shouted amen.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Father, we are so absolutely excited about the
fact that the Holy Spirit is at work
with your word in our hearts.
That the testimony as the scripture says of
God is sure.
And Lord, though we approach you this morning,
we have a little bit better understanding.
We understand from your Bible that Jesus is
praying, making intercession for the saints.
And the Bible also says that the Holy
Spirit, he is praying.
And we also know, Father, that prayer is
to be directed to our Father, which art
in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.