Rita, thank you for playing. Would you turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 through 9? And then we're on page 158 tonight in our Forms and Prayer Book for the Belgic Confession, Article 8, the Trinity, and Article 9, the Scriptural Witness on the Trinity. So a bit of reading for us tonight. That's page 158. So our scripture reading tonight is Deuteronomy 6, text four through nine. We've spoken of this text, I think even this morning, with it being the text referred to as the Shema. What we're about to hear is the very word of God. Deuteronomy 6, four. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. The word of the Lord to us tonight from Deuteronomy 6. Now if you'll turn with me, to the Belgic Confession, Article 8. Let me read to us now tonight from this. In keeping with this truth, the Word of God, we believe in one God who is one single essence. in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties, namely Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things visible as well as invisible. The Son is the Word, the Wisdom, and the Image of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the Eternal Power and Might proceeding from the Father and the Son. And no doubt as I read those you were thinking to yourself, at least I was, how much overlap there is within you know, the operation or the function of each person, because as we've seen, you know, nothing was created without the Son, and yet here in our Belgian confession, the Father is the cause, the origin, and the source of all things. We saw this morning from Colossians, that the Lord Jesus Christ was as well, so. There's a lot of overlap within the three persons in their actions, as I say. Nevertheless, this distinction does not divide God into three, since Scripture teaches us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each has his own subsistence, distinguished by characteristics, yet in such a way that these three persons are only one God. It is evident then that the Father is not the Son, and that the Son is not the Father, and that likewise the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. We took on that this morning as we considered Isaiah 9-6. Nevertheless, these three persons thus distinct are neither divided. nor fused, nor mixed together. For the Father did not take on flesh, nor did the Spirit, but only the Son. The Father was never without His Son, nor without His Holy Spirit, since all these are equal from eternity, and one and the same essence. There is neither a first nor a last, for all three are one in truth and power, in goodness and mercy. Now if you'll flip the page to article nine, I'll read on. All these things we know from the testimonies of the Holy Scripture, as well as from the effects of the persons, especially from those we feel within ourselves, the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures which teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity, are written in many places of the Old Testament, which need not to be enumerated, but only chosen with discretion. In the book of Genesis, God says, let us, the emphasis there is on that two-letter word, us, us, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. So God created man in his own image. Indeed, male and female he created them. Behold, the man has become like one of us. It appears from this that there is a plurality of persons within the deity when he says, let us make man in our image, and afterwards he indicates the unity when he says God created. It is true that he does not say here how many persons there are, but what is somewhat obscure to us in the Old Testament is very clear in the New. For when our Lord was baptized into Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard saying, This is my dear Son. The Son was seen in the water, and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. So in the baptism of all believers, this form was prescribed by Christ. You remember the text, Matthew 28, 19 and 20. Baptize all people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the gospel, according to Luke, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, the mother of our Lord, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and therefore, that Holy One to be born of you shall be called the Son of God. And another place it says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. There are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. In all these passages, we are fully taught that there are three persons in the one and only divine essence. And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now through the Word, waiting to know and enjoy it fully in heaven. Furthermore, we must note the peculiar works and activities of these three persons in relation to us. The Father is called our Creator by reason of His power. The Son is our Savior and Redeemer by His blood. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier and by His living in our hearts. This doctrine of the Holy Trinity has always been maintained in the true Church from the time of the Apostles until the present against Jews, Muslims, and certain false Christians and heretics, such as Marcion, Mani, Praxis, Sebelius, Paul of Samostra, Arius, and others like them, who were rightly condemned by the Holy Fathers. And so, in this matter, we willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds, the Apostles, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creed, as well as what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with them. So that's helpful tonight, Articles 8 and Articles 9. Congregation, I've asked myself throughout the week, and in fact, I think we even talked about it a little bit at catechism today, why would we study this on Sunday night? I wonder if I was to ask some of the elderly here tonight, how many sermons have you heard on the Trinity? You'd probably shake your head and say, oh, I don't know a lot. So will it be helpful tonight on this winter night to come to church to hear again another sermon on the Trinity? It's like, OK, pastor, we got this. God is one, and he's got three persons. Let's say amen and go home. So I've asked myself, why study the Trinity? Just by way of introduction tonight, I'm trying to encourage us to think deeply about God tonight. Here's my first reason. It's in 2 Corinthians 3.18. And Paul says to the Corinthians, we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. So a reason here to study the Trinity is for us to gaze, for us to behold, for us to look at the glory, the majesty, the indescribable essence of our God so that we will be changed further into His image Why should we want to, like Paul, know the Lord? This one thing I do, Paul says, I want to know God. This has got to be our passion at Walker, amen? It's got to be. This has got to be our greatest priority in our hearts, to know the living God. When we sit down and we open our Bible throughout the week to read, we should be asking the question over and over, Lord, who are you and what do you want from me? I'm here, Lord, to listen to you, so Lord, speak to me. Help me see you in all of your glory so that you will change me. What else are you gonna look at? What's your choices? Well, okay, I don't know. Call out your phone, check out what's going on on Facebook, turn on the TV, see the news, listen to the weather report. I mean, what are you gonna do? What will you do every day? so that you will be changed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think it's gonna come from the TV. I don't think it's gonna come from Facebook. There's nothing wrong with watching that, Melanie, you know what I'm saying. I'm talking about priorities here. And my priority in my life should be to behold God in all of his glory. And one of the glories we seek to look at tonight, for just a few minutes, It's the glory of the essence of who he is. That he's one, and yet he's three. Because Paul's convinced that if he will behold, and you know what it is to behold. Look long at, absorb, meditate, think deeply. If he would behold the glory of the Lord, he would be transformed into that same image. So that's a reason. So the more we look into the essence of who God is, the further we move in our sanctification. We look tonight at one biblical glorious description of God. It's not the only description of God that is glorious, but it's one of them. One reason to look, to study, to listen to the description of God's glory is it will transform you. And it'll transform me. And I need that. Don't you? Here's the second reason. We have before us tonight the pleasure of giving attention to the mystery of all mysteries. There's a lot of mysteries in the gospel, isn't there? As we gaze at that child in the manger scene, what a mystery. God becoming flesh, what a mystery. But here's another mystery tonight for us to look upon. And that's the Trinity. Whatever areas those against the cross may attack, you can be sure of this, this great scriptural truth is always on the list to be assaulted. Why study the Trinity? Because Satan and his demonic host is always against the essence of who God is. So we gotta be on our toes. You can mark this truth down. Those who err in believing the truth always slander the persons of God and the word of God in one form or another. We'll see it next week, Sunday night, as we look at the deity of Jesus Christ, that he became man, he's man and God, the deity of Christ, always under attack. Now whether it's Jehovah Witness or it's the Mormons, whoever, they're after it all the time. Belittle Jesus. So, we're not here to belittle God. We're to stand humbly before His Majesty and just be in awe and worship Him. So, okay, boys and girls, kids, let me ask you a question. What makes Christianity different than any other religion? You may answer, well, we serve our risen Savior, and you would certainly be right, thank you. Or someone may add, we have the inspired word of God, and you would also be correct, because every other religious writing was never inspired by the Lord God Almighty. Amen. Let me give you another reason. Many religions are polytheistic. Poly, poly means many. OK, so Hinduism believes in lots of gods, lots of gods. But we do not. We are monotheistic. Boys and girls, did you get that? Did you get that down? Monotheistic. Don't ask me to spell that. You know I can't spell. We are monotheistic. This means we serve one God and only one God, just like the Shema said tonight in Deuteronomy 6.4. He who is of the Lord our God is one. Okay, so we're monotheistic. But Islam and Judaism is also a monotheistic religion. Now let me be clear here, because I was helped on this today. It doesn't mean they're serving the same God. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's just that they only serve one God. It's just that that one God is Satan. Islam and Judaism are also monotheistic. They also believe they just serve one God. But what makes Christianity unique from all other religions, all other religions, no other religion is like Christianity in how we understand God to be. We understand God to be Trinity. So we are Trinitarian monotheistic. Wow, boys and girls, you got all that down? There's a mouthful. We are Trinitarian monotheistic. What does that mean? Simply this, we believe in one God expressed in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Just the way the Athanasian Creed states the truth as it says, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods, there's only one God. And boys and girls, if you're looking at me right now saying, I don't quite get it, that's okay. We don't either. but it's what the Bible declares and reveals to us. Third reason to study this. It's not only a pleasure to dive into the mystery, but it's—here's the third reason—it's to humble us. So a few words of introductory warning will be wise for us to consider. First of all, it must be understood that God is incomprehensible in His essence and His existence. It should be further understood that we human beings to whom God has been pleased to reveal Himself in a manner sufficient to lead us to salvation only know in part and are but able to grasp a fragment or at best only the external fringes of the doctrine before us. So we are like kids, think of it this way, you got a number two pencil, you got one of them pencils, yellow pencil, put that pencil up against a redwood tree. This summer we were out, we saw the sequoias. Wow! What does a pencil know about a sequoia tree? So we're like a pencil. We get it a little bit, we understand it a little bit. Okay, we understand that or this, but compared of a pencil to a sequoia tree, that's about where we're at. So do not be arrogant in your thinking. Do not think you can fully grasp God. I believe on the new earth that we will have infinity to discover the infinite. Second, the language of the Scriptures is human and uses words that relate to tangible objects such as the wondrous wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence of God. That man, by means of earthly expressions, is able to understand things of God by the help of his Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must be cautious not to bring the great truths of God down to our level, where we can in some way think we can now control them and master them. The Holy Trinity cannot be known from nature, but has only been revealed in the Scriptures. Therefore, we must submit ourselves to the Scriptures and believe what is declared in its word of testimony to us. So, let's consider then, tonight, the Trinity. Number one, the singular essence of our God and his being. The singular essence, let's just think about that for a moment. We read a moment ago Deuteronomy 6, 4, the great Old Testament statement of God's oneness. Here, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. This truth is also expressed in 1 Corinthians 8. It says this. There be that are called gods to us, there is but one God. And from Galatians 3.20, God is one. 1 Timothy also joins in this declaration in chapter two, verse five, it says, for there is one God. The Christian church serves one God and only one God. We learn from the law that we are to serve only Him. We are to only bow down to Him and Him alone, for He is a jealous God. We hear it every Sunday morning. He is unwilling to share His glory with another. There can only be one omnipotent, eternal, and all-sufficient, all-creating God. So that's the single essence of God's being. Second, let's look at the triune expression of God's three Persons. I've tried to come up with an illustration of the Trinity. Have you been able to come up with an illustration? Typically, when I'm talking to kids, I think, okay, how about water? Water's kind of like God and His Trinity. It's a liquid. It's a steam, a vapor, and it can be a solid, ice, right? So there, that's a good illustration of the Trinity, right? Well, it's helpful, but not quite, because steam can't be solid and solid can't be liquid all at the same time. So that didn't quite work. Then I think, well, how about this illustration? I'm a man. I'm a husband. I'm a dad. So, you know, I've got lots of different things going on with me. You could call me dad, you could call me, right? So, okay, that's kind of an illustration. Well, once again, right, falls short because there was a time I wasn't a dad. There's never been a time Jesus has not been God, or the Holy Spirit has not been God. Never been a time. So that doesn't quite work. Can you come up with an illustration? If you do, come see me. I haven't heard one that quite does it yet. But we try to illustrate it. But it's, again, God is so beyond all of these types of things. So we learn from the divine being God has a threefold manner of existence. This one God is expressed in the scriptures as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are three distinct, we use the word persons. It's not a word from the scriptures, but it helps us. because He functions as that. The Bible speaks of the Father as God, Philippians 1, 2, Jesus as God, Titus 2, and the Holy Spirit as God, Acts 5, 3-4. You may want to have, you know, these some verses written down somewhere so that you're able to defend the Trinity. That you'll be able to say to, you know, Jehovah Witness or somebody, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And they're going to say, well, where does that say that in the Bible? And, you know, so you've got some verses in mind. So let me say them again. The Bible speaks of the Father as God in Philippians 1, 2. Jesus is God in Titus 2, 13. And the Holy Spirit is God in Acts 5, 3 through 4. For example, since the Father sent the Son into the world, John 3.16, He cannot be the same person as the Son. Likewise, after the Son returned to the Father, in John 16, 10, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must be distinct from the Father and the Son. And I know some of you are starting to roll your eyes because you've heard this over and over, but again, I ask of you tonight, stay with me, keep focusing on the glory of God. So that the Father is God, I mean, that's not disputed, I don't think. The fact that Jesus is God is often disputed. So let me give you a few quick proofs on that. His divine name. Consider his name, whoever carries the name Jehovah, the name of God alone, must be God. And Romans 9.5 says, theirs are the patriarchs, from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised, amen. So anyone that wants to deny Jesus Christ being God is gonna have a problem there, because first of all, he's worshiped. When the angels were worshipped, they always told whoever was worshipped, stop that, stop that. But Jesus Christ never stopped anyone from worshipping him. 1 John 5 20, we know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. That's 1 John 5 20. Isn't that a powerful verse? Doesn't that help you? His divine attributes, what are the attributes of Jesus Christ? Well, He's eternal, He's omnipotent, He's omniscient. He can only be a true God. That's taught in Revelation 1-8 and Micah 5-2. I don't have time to read all these. His divine works, what did He do? Whoever has created all things, maintains all things in His power to raise the dead must be God. John 1.3 declares it. Colossians 1.15 says so. John 5, as we just read, declares it. And then there's His eternal honor. Whoever is worshiped, has baptism performed in His name, is to be believed in for eternal life, must be truly God. And again, multiple texts, Matthew 28, 19, Philippians 2, 9, John 14, 1. Let's look at the Holy Spirit a moment. I know I'm just blasting through this. Let me give the Holy Spirit. The Scripture also teaches that the Holy Spirit is God. He's the third person of the Trinity, often described in the Scriptures as the Spirit of God. And so you might start to think to yourself, well, so then there's two persons and they have this spirit. But that's not the case. He is his own person. Again, he's He's spoken of as God in Acts 5.3. Peter, you know, is talking to Ananias who just, who's lied, and he says, You've not lied to men. You lied to God. You previously said you lied to the Holy Spirit, now he says you've lied to God. Well, yeah, one or the same. And what are the attributes of the Holy Spirit? Well, He's eternal, He's omniscient, He's omnipotent, Isaiah 11, 2, He's the Spirit of might. He's the mighty God. And then his works. He creates in Job 26. He regenerates and creates life, John 3. He dispenses spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12, 11. He teaches us how to pray, Romans 8, 26. He leads believers to glory through sanctification, Romans 8. He raises the dead, Romans 8, 11. And then there's his honor, his name. In his name we are baptized from whom we petition in prayer, whom we must obey. The Holy Spirit is God. We have therefore the teaching of the singular essence of God and yet also the three persons that make up his self-revelation. This is how God has come to show us who he is. So let's ask tonight the question. So what? Okay, good information, thank you, pastor. So what? Well, let's start with this. Every person of the Godhead is worthy of our praise. We don't usually think about the Holy Spirit in that way, that we're bowing down to him, praying to him, blessing his name, right? The Holy Spirit, I find to be Can I say this carefully? I find the Holy Spirit to be so humble. It's not that the Father and the Son are not humble. It's just I find the Holy Spirit. What's the Holy Spirit always doing? He's always saying to me, look at Jesus, look at Jesus, look at Jesus. I start to think about the Holy Spirit and it's always about Jesus. He deflects my thinking of him so that I'll think more of Jesus. He's always leading me to Jesus. But every person that God has is worthy of our praise. And the one full essence of God is worthy of glory. God has moved forward in his total essence to bring glory to himself by your salvation. Every person in the Trinity has been so active in our salvation and in our sanctification and ultimately our hope. Our hope lies with the Father, and with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. This same God now calls us to totally give ourselves to this salvation, heart, mind, and soul, as we saw tonight in our text. So the multiple value of knowing God in the three persons of the Trinity, let's start with God the Father. Could I call you to some actions tonight as you think about the Trinity? This week as you think about God. First of all, God the Father. Would you meditate this week on the creator of your life? and the planner of your salvation. He's the one that from the foundation of the earth has chosen his elect to be the objects of his love. Would you meditate on the Father this week? He has made us partakers of an eternal and incomprehensible salvation where we are called to worship him and know him, that all is of him and for him and to him. Remember how the father has appointed his only begotten son. As you meditate upon the father this week, remember the Christmas story. He gave us his son. It's right there in Isaiah 9-6. To us a son is given. Remember that about the father. He loves us so much that He gave us His Son. Consider the Father's absolute rule over all creation for our good and His eternal glory. Be amazed that the Father would refer to us as His children, that He would adopt you, not just save you, but adopt you. So kind is the Father, so loving is the Father, so faithful is the Father, so long-suffering is the Father, that we are led into His presence only to be able to say, Abba, Father. Come and learn of Him who would reveal Himself as the Father, who by His power created you and cares for you. Let's meditate on the Son, God the Son. Meditate this week on the one who has redeemed you there on Calvary. He is the one who set himself towards Jerusalem to fully obey the will of the Father and express his great love for you. He's the one who died for you. Think of him. Meditate on him. And his great work there on the cross, so perfectly done that he's able to rise up and say, it is finished. Remember his words on the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And remember the answer. It's so that he would sacrifice himself for you and for me. Be amazed that He's risen from the dead. Be astounded that today He sits at the right hand of God and He's making intercession for us. Think of that this week when you're thinking about Jesus. What's He doing? He's praying for you. Listen to His voice as He calls you His brother. fall in love with the One who is the Bridegroom of the Beloved, and remember the eternity of our privileges to know Him and worship at His feet. Let's think about God the Holy Spirit. Meditate this week on the Holy Spirit. Meditate on the one that works faith in us and is pleased to take up residency in our hearts to work out our sanctification. Meditate this week of the very one who's in this room right now. The Holy Spirit is here. He's here right now. He's speaking to you. Remember that the Holy Spirit is the one that applies the completed work of the cross into my life. It was the Holy Spirit that drew you into the position of repentance, who got you to finally say, I am so sick of my sin. Meditate on him this week and his power, his personal, personal power in your life and in your heart. Be amazed at the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance and the sealing of the promise so that it would be sure and we could be confident that the Lord will return and bring us with Him forever to be with Him in glory. The Holy Spirit has sealed within you the covenant promise. So what? Why are there so many attempts to remove the teaching of the Trinity? It's an attack on the very core of God's being. It's an attack on the very core of what God is up to in your life and in mine and in this church. It's an attack on the glory of God. It's an attack on your salvation. Meditate on God. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Meditate on his oneness, his unity, and the glory and beauty of that unity as you and I struggle with disunity and relationship breakups and how hard it is to get along with each other and how we need to forgive one another. But look at their unity. They're so one. Oh, that my marriage, oh, that your marriage would have that kind of oneness An intimacy so deep, so close, you can't even unravel it. But then think of God and His work, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit causing us to be His people. Let's pray. Father, Your love for us is amazing. Jesus, thank you for all that you've done for our salvation, all that you continue to do. We just want to say thank you. Holy Spirit, thank you for constantly leading us to look at Jesus, to want to be like Jesus. Thank you. Thank you for being with us tonight. We're sorry that so often you have to be in the front row seat of our sin. We're sorry for that. Continue, we pray, to work in us by your might. Thank you for this glorious, wonderful truth. We admit we don't understand it all. How can this be? And yet it is. And how wonderful and glorious it is. So we thank you tonight. We just bow down and worship you. We're like Thomas, we just want to say my Lord and my God, thank you for your awesome work in our life. So Father, as we this week think about you, meditate on you, in your oneness, and yet you're three persons. Would it help us? Would you help us be more like you? We pray to that end. In Jesus' name.