0:04 Father, we come before you tonight in thanksgiving for your word, for your church, for a people that you have raised up in this part of Chicago that are willing to give their Friday nights to meet with you. Lord, would you see the hunger in this house and would you meet that hunger? Would you come and fill us and satisfy us? That your word may come like a feast and that we may know that this is the bread of life. We ask, Lord, for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, not just in the delivery of this Bible study, but in the receiving of it as well.
0:43 We ask, Lord, that the gospel of Jesus Christ itself would come through this study. We pray, Lord, that your blessing would be upon these next few weeks as we discover who you are concerning your beauty, your majesty, your nature, your doings. We ask that you would give us hearts that would, as a result, fall in love with you. Protect us from pride. Protect us from knowledge that puffs up.
1:08 Give us, Lord, what you intended your word to do, tender hearts, renewed minds, transformed lives. We call upon you, Lord, trusting in your name, trusting in your promises as we just sang. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today, we begin a new series of various messages that will be far different than what we've done up to this point on Friday nights with our bible study.
1:37 If you have been with us for the past three, four years, we've been going through the Old Testament from Genesis, and we ended in Numbers with the intention to see how the Old Testament speaks to us in a very practical way. And that that goal was to say, hey. Don't neglect your Old Testament. There's so much in there for you and I in light of the new covenant. There's so much there about who God is.
2:00 There's so many principles and stories that we can pull out for our own lives today. And it has been intensely practical, and that's okay because we want this to be practical. But we're going into a different direction. We're stopping before we go into Deuteronomy for who knows how long, however long the Lord wants to take us. It could be a few weeks.
2:20 It could be a few months. It could be a few years to really dive into and lean into and steer ourselves into a brand new direction where it's less of a practical emphasis and way more of a theological one. We're gonna really dive into theology. What is theology? It could be summarized in this, the study of God as revealed in the scriptures.
2:40 The study of the person of who God is as revealed not in our minds, not in popular opinion, but as the Bible reveals who He is. Now you hear the word theology, and you get different opinions. You get different reactions to this simple idea of studying who God is. You have some people who think the idea is just plain boring. You have some people that are intimidated by such a concept.
3:08 You have some people who just leave that to the academics and those who have spent their lives studying the Scriptures. You have others who just don't see the importance of giving much time or energy into theology. Then you have others who have opinions about those who study theology. You have, many people who say those who give their time and energy to doctrine, which which is really teachings and and very systematized understandings of who God is. Those people are usually academic, intellectual, and they are severely lacking in fervent worship, personal holiness, and any evangelistic zeal.
3:48 And let me just say this honestly, there are people like that. It's just true. There are people who approach this book in a way that doesn't transform their lives, and there's a group of those kind of people in the Bible called the Pharisees. But this is the understanding of the true believer. We pursue theology with the understanding that it fuels our passion for God.
4:11 It fuels our understanding of God. It is actually a important part about your Christian walk. To dismiss theology is to dismiss God. To dismiss studying and the discipline of understanding Him as revealed in this text is to really neglect your pursuit of Him. And so it's not something to be ignored.
4:31 It's not something to leave to the big guys upstairs. No. No. It's it's meant for all believers. And though we have different levels of understanding, we are all to pursue understanding altogether.
4:42 So why is theology important? Let's just let's just cover some basis. Theology is important because number one, to know God is to know him as revealed in the Bible. To know God is to know him as revealed in the Bible. Let me just make this statement.
5:00 Doctrine, which is a word that you can you can use to supplement a teaching, teaching, doctrine, doctrine without devotion is dry. Devotion expressing, experiencing, pursuing in in in a sense of prayerfulness and and song and seeking in a healthy holy way, experiencing God in real life. Devotion without doctrine is not dry but dangerous. Doctrine without devotion is dry. Devotion without doctrine is dangerous.
5:41 So let's split that up. You have people who might love doctrine but have no devotional life. In other words, they don't use this word. They don't use what they acquire and understand to propel them to seek God for themselves in a personal and intimate way. So you have Jesus in John five thirty nine and forty who says, to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.
6:05 Yet it is they that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Do you know what that means? You can search the scriptures, know the scriptures, memorize the scriptures, and not have Christ. And there are people like that all over this world, even in classrooms that are teaching. You search the scriptures not to find me, but for whatever other pursuit that you're trying to find.
6:30 And and guess what? You have people that pursue theology for what reason? Just because of the pleasure of knowledge. There is, there's some kind of pleasure in knowing more. You have others who who enjoy exercising their intellectual muscles for what purpose?
6:45 Only to flex them before others. You have others who love to argue, who love the the thrill of debate. And so what do they do? They come to the Bible as a means to satisfy that fleshly itch, and they do. Doctrine without devotion is dry, and it will dry up your life quicker than you think unless you know how to take truth versus bible study sermons and let them translate into a worshipful exchange with the Lord.
7:22 But devotion without doctrine is dangerous. So you have people that overly emphasize subjective experiences. I've experienced God in this way, or I pursue God this way. And if you're not careful, if you don't use the Bible to to to be your guardrails and to lead you towards the Lord, you can really rear off into fanaticism, into false teaching, false doctrine, and find yourself in just plain weirdness. And so we need the balance.
7:52 We need to understand that knowing God is knowing him as revealed in the bible. I wanna know him, and God has given us a means to know him. And that's to study him, and not just study him here, but to let it touch here. Number two, by knowing God as revealed in the scriptures, we will know how God relates to man. We will know how God relates to man.
8:14 How does God relate to man? What does he like? What does he like? What does he hate? Why does he love?
8:18 Why does he hate certain things? Why does he judge? Why does he reward? We will know how God relates to man. But number three, by knowing God as revealed in the scriptures, we will know how we can relate to God.
8:29 Is God knowable? Is God relatable? Is God someone that I can have a personal experience and walk with? Or is he some far off distant deity in which I just kind of figure out over time? And I guess there's so many other points, but let's just talk about one more.
8:44 By knowing God in truth by knowing God in truth, we will experience John eight thirty two. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Now that's not just initial freedom and salvation. That is a continuous experience of freedom as I continue to discover greater truths of God. And I gotta be honest, even even as just just touching the the surface of the Trinity and just kind of exploring these scriptures, my heart was coming to life.
9:13 My heart was coming to life. Not not because I I knew now no ways to be able to debate people, but in a real worshipful way. I was saying, Lord, you are so holy and majestic and complex, yet you want to know me in light of all of who you are. I'm humbled. And not only will you know freedom for yourself and myself, but we will know how to bring freedom to others who need to know truth, who need to know truth.
9:42 And so you have somebody who perhaps has an idea of who God is, and they come up to you, Christian, and say prove to me that Jesus is God. Show me where it says God. Jesus says, I am God. Worship me. Where do you go?
9:54 What do you do? What do you show them? What do you do when you have a person from a different religion that knows more of the Bible than most Christians do? And so it's not just freedom for ourselves, but freedom for others as well, who are bound, who are bound by false teaching, who are bound by different concepts of who Christ is. And you and I are given truth with the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to others as well.
10:22 And so this, we're about to enter into an amazing journey with the Word of God. We're about to explore something that will truly touch our hearts if we're humble enough to receive it, and today we're gonna do just that. We're gonna explore something called the Trinity. The Trinity. Everybody here, I'm sure, has heard the word.
10:42 Though it's not a word revealed in the Bible, the reality and the description of the Trinity is definitely in the Bible. And how can we summarize what the trinity means? And and I this is this is gonna be new for all of us. Why? This is gonna have a different flow in our bible study.
10:58 It's gonna be more scripture based, more taking scriptures and linking them together, and let the bible speak for itself. It's gonna require much of your participation, so I'm gonna rely on some of the guys over here with their booming voices and your flip your quick fingers to flip through pages because we're gonna just read scriptures aloud and let the Bible just preach to us. And let the Bible just preach us. We're gonna stop, we're gonna meditate, we're gonna ask questions, and we're just gonna go back and forth and explore. See, when you come to a subject like the trinity, you don't have a book in the Bible that gives us all the ideas of what the trinity is, and we break it down verse by verse.
11:30 No. It is all over the Bible, and it is our job to take the time to take these different concepts and bring them together, and that's where the fun is. I'm glad that the Lord did it that way because it requires attention and time and discipline. And when you do it that way, it makes it so much more enjoyable. When you read something in Isaiah and you say, oh, man.
11:49 Jesus said that in Revelation. When you see something in second Samuel, you say, oh, man. That's the same description of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. And you begin to see these wires, I guess you could say, come together and boom, light comes up and there's revelation, oh, it should cause us to worship and say, put the songs on. I just wanna sing to him.
12:11 The Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is the belief that God eternally exists as three persons in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is not the belief that we worship three gods. It is not the belief that God is one but manifests himself in different modes.
12:39 It is the belief that God is one in essence, yet he is three in persons. So let's our let's go to our first verse in Deuteronomy six four. Deuteronomy chapter six beginning in verse four. First thing we have to understand about the trinity is is number one is that God is one. Monotheists.
13:10 We believe that God is one in essence. We don't believe in multiple gods. And this is affirmed in many verses, and this is one of the most popular verses. Simply this, hero Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is not three.
13:24 He's one. In essence, in being, he's one. But as you read throughout the Old Testament, especially when you get to the New Testament, we begin to realize that it's a little bit more complicated than that. So let's just establish this. God is one in what sense?
13:43 He is uncreated, all knowing, all powerful, almighty, all loving. We know that the Bible affirms that God is one infinite being, but is shared by three co equal persons. He's one in essence, but three in personalities. You can say he is multi personal. And each person, three, possesses a mind, possesses will, possesses emotion, can communicate and be communicated to.
14:29 Not three gods, one god in three persons. Now we just started and perhaps this is going crazy already. How can you tell me that this is not a contradiction? This is just too complex for us to put together. This seems like there needs to be some kind of thing or other example that I can parallel it to to help make sense, and there have been many attempts.
14:58 Have there not? What are some common attempts to give examples of what the triune god is like? Paul?
15:09 The yolk and the the the white
15:12 the white shell. And the shell. Yeah. So an egg is a common one. What else, Phoebe?
15:17 The sun in what sense? The heat, the rays, and the light. Anything else? A triangle? So you have three parts and it's one.
15:30 Yes, Eddie? Water. Water. In what sense?
15:37 Solid, liquid, and gas. Right? Three loaf of three leaf clover, some have used that. K. What's the problem with all those examples?
15:48 A majority of them at least. It's physical. It's physical? That's one part. Sure.
15:54 Paul? They're all heroic. Okay. You wanna tell us why they're heresy?
15:59 just as men to God, each one falls short of the trinity as it is.
16:05 It does fall short. And and one of the reasons why, especially when you talk about water, is because it presents the trinity as some would hold to what's called modalism. Modalism is the the idea that tries to reconcile the fact that God is one without this contradicting seemingly contradicting idea that he's three in persons that, yeah, you see father, son, holy spirit in the Bible, but it's God who manifest himself in different ways. So when he comes as a son, he ceases to be father and spirit. When he comes as a spirit, he ceases to be son and father.
16:39 When you see him as father, he ceases to be son and spirit. And so when we use these physical examples, what we really are doing is robbing the majesty and the complexity of who God is. What it does maybe prove to its maximum potential is there are trinitarian traces in creation. Now I don't want to go down this road because there's a debate amongst Christians whether you and I are tri part beings or just two part beings. Whether we're material and immaterial, we would all agree that.
17:07 But some would say we are spirit, soul, and body. And some would say, no. No. No. No.
17:11 We're not spirit, soul, and body. Where do we get that from? First Thessalonians five twenty three, Hebrews four twelve, the dividing of soul and spirit. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be sanctified. First Thessalonians five twenty three.
17:25 So you have people who say, yeah. We're we're three parts. We're creating the image of God. Then you have those say, it's not that easy because you see in the Bible that spirit and soul are synonymous to the same thing and body is separate. So we're two parts.
17:39 I'm not going into that debate because, again, it's very difficult to try to pull God down into something that we can relate to. And if anything, the complexity of the Trinity all the more proves the Godhood of God. Does it not? It it brings us to a place it should at least to worship and adore him because you and I, whether we like it or not, we have to humble ourselves. There is a ceiling in our brains, and there's only so much that we can understand of who God is until we just cease and stop and just receive what the revelation has been given to us concerning who He is.
18:19 And let me prove it this way, the Trinity aspect of who God is is not the only thing that seems incomprehensible about God. So you have some people who reason this way, because I can't understand it, I can't receive it. Because it's not seemingly logical or reasonable, I will not accept it. So hold on. You have to be careful there because there are many things in the scriptures relating to the nature of God that are incomprehensible.
18:46 And if you're gonna say use that same consistent logic, then you gotta reject a lot of things about God, not just the fact that he's a tripart being. Shall we go through some examples? First one, Psalms one thirty nine. Psalms one thirty nine. You can turn there, but I'm gonna ask some of the brethren here to read it.
19:05 From verse one, Isaac, you wanna read it? Psalms one thirty nine verse one. Read verse one to four if you can for us.
19:17 Oh, lord. You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
19:31 For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, oh lord, you know it also.
19:35 Okay. Stop there. What what is the psalmist raving about? What is he what is he doing at this moment as he's writing these things in these first four verses? What is he speaking about?
19:45 God's sovereignty more specifically, Nainen, is omniscience. You know my sitting down, you know my going about, you know my thoughts, you know everything. He's describing the fact that God is all knowing and later on all present. He's all places at all times and it it brings him to a place though he realizes this about God. He reached the ceiling of his mind in verse five.
20:12 What does it say in verse five, Isaac?
20:15 You have hedged me behind before and laid your hand upon
20:20 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it.
20:23 I can't understand it. I can't understand it. Think about it this way, guys. Imagine I right now were to ask you every single person here, think of a sentence, any random sentence, and at the same time say it as I count down from three to one. God knows everything that you will all say at the same time.
20:45 In fact, he can write it down before it even lifts off your tongue. And God doesn't know it's just in this room. He knows it all around the world. He knows every thought. He knows what you're gonna say is your next sentence.
20:55 And the psalmist has come to a place where he says, I I can't even think about it. The omniscience of God is numbing my brain in modern language. Omniscience. Is it just omniscience? No.
21:10 Somebody can turn to Romans eleven thirty three. This is a New Testament author who's come to the same place as the psalmist in Psalms one thirty nine, and he says something that is quite famous from the lips of the apostle Paul. Tim, are you there? If you're there, could you read it for us?
21:30 Yes. Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. God. How unsearchable are his judgments, and how insurable his ways.
21:41 K. So you have the apostle Paul in this chunk of the book of Romans who's writing Romans nine, ten, and 11 that is dedicated to the concepts of election, predestination, and God's dealing with the nation of Israel. And he comes to verse 33 where he halts in describing God's sovereign plan for this nation and how he's dealing with them and how he's dealing with the rest of the world in light of their disobedience, and he says, oh, the depth. Oh, the riches. Oh, his judgments.
22:13 Oh, his thoughts. Oh, his plans. And he worships. He worships. So even Paul, the mastermind theologian, the chief of the apostles, had reached a place in his understanding of God in light of predestination, election, and his sovereignty, and his dealing with the nation of Israel where he says, I just can't go further anymore.
22:36 It it doesn't stop there. It doesn't stop there. Who can turn to Philippians four six and seven? Philippians four six and seven. You there?
22:57 Read it for Isaac if you're there. Philippians four six and seven.
23:03 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ.
23:17 We know these verses. Do we not? We take great comfort in them. And the apostle Paul says, listen. Don't be anxious about anything but in everything.
23:27 In thanksgiving, present your request before God. And what will happen as a result of faithfully in the midst of your crippling fear as you come before the Lord Almighty and say, oh God, what do I do about this situation whether it's big or small? What will happen? The peace of God now it's not just normal peace, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, it talks about my mind, will guard your heart, will guard your mind. So so far, I've discovered three things that are incomprehensible about God.
24:01 His omniscience, His sovereign working in the universe specifically with the nation of Israel, His peace. His peace surpasses my understanding. In other words, that when I come to Him and He infuses me with tranquility, I know this that this peace that I am experiencing does not make sense. And I don't know why I'm experiencing it. I don't know how I'm experiencing it.
24:24 Why? I don't know why because I've come to the Lord, and it it doesn't match up with the way things are happening and how I should be reacting normally. Let's go one more example. Ephesians three. Ephesians three verse 19.
24:45 This is what Paul says as he prays for the Ephesians church. And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. That surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. There's something about the love of God where if you meditate on it long enough, where you attempt to pursue it hard enough, you will reach a point where it almost doesn't make sense. Can anybody in here attempt to tell all of us why God loves us?
25:24 Is there anything in us, anything about us, that would compel God to not just love us in a sentimental way, but to give his son as a sacrifice, not just for a bunch of people that are running around and are, yes, in need of help but are not acknowledged, but a bunch of rebels who hate God, who hate righteousness, who hate the commands of the living God. And he goes, I love you. And Paul says, you know, you you need strength to understand the love of God. So let me pray and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with that strength so that you can at least come to a place before you're obliterated almost to even understand this kind of love he has for you. Why are we going to all these verses?
26:03 This is why. We talked about God's omniscience where where the psalmist goes, I I I I gotta stop here. Because he's being blasted by the revelation of the Holy Spirit as an inspired writer. We talk about God's election, predestination, sovereign working with the nation of Israel. We talk about his peace that he infuses his children when they seek him in faith through prayer with their anxiety, and we talk about the love of Christ.
26:27 All of these things surpass knowledge. And here's my question to all of us, just because it surpasses knowledge, does that mean we reject those things? Would anybody in here dare to reject the love of Christ just because it surpasses knowledge? Would anybody in here dare to reject the peace the peace of God because it doesn't make sense in certain times where peace shouldn't be experienced? Would anybody in here reject God's omniscience because they can't understand how God can know all of our thoughts as we sit in here and the thoughts of the underground church in China right now and the thoughts of the president right now wherever he is, all at the same time without him getting a headache.
27:00 Just because we see these things and understand these things, doesn't mean that we reject them when we can't fully comprehend them. I hope not. And we use that same argument for the understanding of the Trinity. Just because I may not have exhaustively been able to explain it does not mean I have the right to reject it. Does that make sense tonight?
27:23 I hope so. And so this is how we're gonna lay the foundation for the Trinity. We're simply there's so many places to go because this is what we need to understand about this doctrine of the triune God. The Bible doesn't whisper the Trinity. The Bible shouts it.
27:42 The Bible shouts it. And and there's so many angles, and I hope you have a pen. I hope you have a paper. I hope you're gonna put these references beside different verses, and I hope you're gracious with the time. But let's just ask the Lord to help us as we did earlier.
27:58 Lord, we pray as we dive into this again. Give us the mind to understand. Give us the heart to receive. Lord, if anything, let it just cause us to worship you. Let it cause us to worship you.
28:10 Forgive us for our own pride. Forgive us for thinking that our minds can be stretched to a place where we can fully understand you. Lord, we just wanna receive you as you revealed yourself to us. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
28:24 This is how we're gonna lay the foundation. I just want us to explore a few verses where the Trinity is mentioned together. All three persons mentioned together in a few verses to show because there's one thing that's certain about the training. Though it's not fully explained, it is fully expressed. You can't deny it.
28:47 So where the two most common places a believer will go when somebody says, prove to me that there are three persons in your one God? Genesis one? Yeah, sure. Jesus' baptism is one of the most famous ones. Why?
29:06 Because at that scene, we see Jesus being baptized. We see what? The Father speaking and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. Right? Where else where else in the New Testament specifically?
29:19 Eddie? Okay. So the transfiguration, some would go there, but I think more than more than that we see two of them. We see the Father and we see the Son more than anything, but that is a good one as well. Tim?
29:33 The Great Commission. The Great Commission. That's exactly it. So we have Jesus' baptism and then the Great Commission where Jesus says, in the name, you're gonna go and baptize, you're gonna go teach in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Name, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
29:51 Those are the two most popular, but let's just deepen our understanding of this. And we're gonna see that Jesus testifies to the Trinity, Paul testifies to the Trinity, and Peter testifies to the Trinity quite casually in their writings. So let's go together. You guys ready? John chapter 14.
30:13 John chapter fourteen fifteen and sixteen. Look what Jesus says. John fourteen fifteen and sixteen. If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Verse 16.
30:36 Now this is where we just need to read it really slow, and you'll see it. And I who's that? I will ask who? Number two, and He will give you another helper. That's three.
30:53 To be with you forever. I, Jesus, will ask the Father. He will give you another helper. Now there are some people who try to dismiss the Spirit of God by removing His deity and pinning on Him the idea that He is God's active force, God's expression of power on the earth. When he does something, he that's the expression.
31:20 The spirit just simply means the expression of God's power. He is not a person, some would say. And so they would even use a verse like that and say God helps you with his active force. Just scroll down to verse 26 of that same chapter, and we'll see that that is not the case. But the helper, we just read about him in verse 16.
31:44 But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things. Can an active force teach? Or does a person teach? A person teaches. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
32:04 And we're not gonna spend tonight on the holy the doctrine of the deity of the holy spirit, but we're gonna find out the holy spirit can be hurt. We're gonna find out the Holy Spirit can speak. We're gonna find out the Holy Spirit does a lot of the same things in the Old Testament that God the Father did. But just to show, these verses are just to show the Trinity mentioned together all three persons. I, Father, the helper.
32:28 Who's the helper? Just scroll down a few verses. That's why context is key. Many cults use Bible verses out of context. Verse 26 simply clarifies that the helper, the Holy Spirit, will come and teach you all things.
32:40 We know this in second Corinthians thirteen fourteen. The grace of who? Pastor Rufit does it almost every Sunday in the command service. Second Corinthians thirteen fourteen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
33:04 Did Paul have an understanding of the Trinity? Absolutely. Again, we're just we're just gonna let Bible verses speak for themselves. First Peter, first Peter one and two. If you want a heading for these verses, just write this, Verses that mention the Trinity together.
33:24 First Peter one and two. Look what Peter says. According to the foreknowledge of God the father, Thank you. In the sanctification of who? The Spirit.
33:43 For obedience to who? Oh, there's number three, Jesus Christ. So you have Paul at the end of his letter declaring the Trinity. You have Peter in the beginning of his letter introducing himself and his content in the name of the Triune God, in the working of the Triune God. So so far, you know who we have on our side?
34:05 We have Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul, the apostle Peter. And all it really takes as we come to the Bible is just to read it slowly. Here's another example. Again, Trinity mentioned together. Galatians, this is so beautiful.
34:20 When you just read it slowly, all pounds on your heart. Galatians chapter four four and six. Galatians four four and six. But when the fullness of time had come, what happened? God did something.
34:36 He sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to do what? To redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. So so far I understand that God sent His Son at the fullness of time. God knew particularly in history when He would reveal Christ in the flesh, but it doesn't just stop there. And because you are sons, God sent His Spirit, the Spirit of His Son into my heart, in your heart, into our hearts where we cry Abba Father.
35:06 So I see God, I see the Son, and I see the Spirit in this work of redemption as Paul is describing what happened to you and me, and what God had done in history. Last one before we get to another portion of content. Titus. Titus three four and six. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior, there's a title there, there's a description of God, God our savior, he saved us not because of works done by us unrighteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of renewing and what?
35:54 Regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through oh, wait a minute. There's the third one, Jesus Christ, but guess what? The same title is God. Jesus Christ, our savior. Early on, God, our savior.
36:11 Paul, are you saying that Jesus Christ and God are the same? Absolutely. And let me tell you what happened to you. Let me tell you how you got saved. God, your savior, in his compassion, in his love, in his mercy, saved you not because of your own works, but when the Holy Spirit came, he renewed your heart, He regenerated your heart, whom he has poured out richly through Jesus Christ, our savior.
36:35 Oh, you're you're the same. One might argue up to this point in this Bible study that all of this was in the New Testament, that the Trinity is very much a Christian new covenant idea. You can't find this stuff in the Old Testament, and we can boldly declare that you can prove the trinity without the New Testament. New Testament aside, if you want those if you wanna engage with those who are dear simply to the Old Testament, you can prove the Trinity from the Old Testament. And that will be, God willing, one segment.
37:15 But let let's just get a sample of it. Let's just go one place, and this is a powerful place, and it is a thrilling place. Does anybody know where we might go right now? Genesis is a popular one. We won't go there.
37:27 Daniel is another one where we see definitely God the Father, God the Son, the Ancient of Days, and the Son of Man. Sure. Zechariah, we're gonna touch there. Absolutely. Psalm Isaiah.
37:39 Isaiah 48. Isaiah 48. Isaiah 48. And let's just take our time here. Isaiah 48.
37:56 Let's go to verse 12, and let's just read here what the lord says. Listen to me, oh Jacob, and Israel whom I called. I am he, I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand forth together.
38:23 Assemble all of you and listen. Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him. He shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arms shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken and called him.
38:37 I brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me. Hear this. From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the time it came to be, I have been there.
38:47 And now, look at this very carefully, and now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit. Do we see that at the end of verse 16? And now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit. There's three right there. In order to find out who that me is, we simply have to ask a question, who is speaking in these verses?
39:13 Go back to verse 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, in Israel, whom I called. I am he. I am the first, and I am the last. No prophet can say that.
39:25 And if anybody's confused about that title, in the same book, just go to a few chapters back, Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44 and look at verse six. Look what the Lord says about himself. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last.
39:47 Besides me there is no God. So we know back in Isaiah 4eight twelve-sixteen that the person that's speaking is God Himself. For any person to give themselves the title I am the first and the last is a very, very, very, very, very clear statement that you are God. I'm from the beginning, and I'm the last one. I am the the first.
40:11 I am God, and I'm God forever at the end. Eternity past, eternity future, no God in between, no God before, no God after. That's what God is saying when He's saying, I am the first and the last. And this speaker in verse 16 says something, the Lord God has sent me, and we know that that me is the first and the last. The Lord God has sent me and his spirit.
40:38 Now let's just stop here. This is where it gets really exciting. You can turn there if you want, but you can write it. Revelation one seventeen. This is what Jesus said.
40:50 When I saw him, I fell his feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand on me saying, fear not, I am the first and the last. Letters in red in your bible. Jesus, do you have the audacity to give yourself the same title that Yahweh has given himself in Isaiah forty four six and Isaiah forty eight sixteen? Yes. Why?
41:12 Because he is Yahweh. He is God. Some would really argue back in this text in Isaiah forty eight sixteen that this is an interjection of Isaiah at this point in verse 16, and it's him saying that the Lord God has sent me as a prophet to declare these things to you. Now we can spend the rest of this session describing and defending why that's not the case, going to the original language and all that, but we won't. Even if that is true, that Isaiah himself interjects at this point in this chapter to say, Hey, I've been sent by God to do this.
41:45 You still have a problem with the multi personal concept of God. Why? Because you still have the Spirit in there. So okay, the me is the prophet. You have Lord God and Spirit.
41:55 So what do you do with the Spirit? God's active force? Okay. We can spend again the next few minutes showing how the Spirit of God in the Old Testament is God, and not just His power or His energy or His ability to do things. And on top of that, the idea of God sending God is not isolated to this text.
42:20 Our brother mentioned it, and this is where we need to go. We need to go. We need to go and eat this meat. Zechariah chapter two. Zechariah chapter two, beginning in verse seven to 11.
42:34 Zechariah two seven to 11. The idea of God sending God, the idea of God commissioning God to a certain task is not foreign to the Old Testament. And I don't know if you realize this, but the person who denies the Trinity, the burden of proof is on them more than on the Trinitarians. For us to prove the train all of this makes sense if you believe in a triune God. This does not make sense if you believe even if you say God is mono he's a monotheist being.
43:04 Yeah. Sure. We believe that too as Christians. We don't believe in three gods. But they would say, but he's a Unitarian.
43:09 He is one person. You have a lot of trouble explaining these verses if you believe that God is not three persons in one being. Zechariah two seven. Up. Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon!
43:25 For thus says the Lord of hosts. Okay, who's about to speak? The Lord of hosts. That's a title that God gives Himself. For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eyes.
43:40 Isn't that precious? Concerning his people, not just the nation of Israel, I believe his people today, when anybody touches you, they touch the apple of his eye. You know how precious your eyes are to yourself. Right? You wouldn't let anybody poke their finger in your eye.
43:54 Is that not agitating? Is that aggravating? God says whenever anybody touches you, guess what they're doing? It's like somebody putting a finger in my eye, and guess what? I'm gonna do something about that.
44:04 Who touches you touches the apple of his eye. Next part. Now the Lord of hosts is speaking. The Lord of hosts is speaking. Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who serve them.
44:18 Then you will know okay. Wait. Who's speaking right now? The Lord of hosts is speaking. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.
44:28 Hold on. Hold on. We just read that the Lord of hosts is speaking, and the Lord of hosts is saying that the Lord of hosts is sending the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts. But the Lord of hosts is speaking.
44:43 Yes. Because there's multiple persons in the one God. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Let's keep going. Sing and rejoice, oh daughter of Zion, for behold I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord, and it's affirmed here.
44:58 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be My people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts Now the Lord of hosts is still speaking. The Lord of hosts has sent me to you. How do we make sense of this? God the Son is speaking and saying, God the Father will send me.
45:20 That's how we make sense of it. Unitarian, how do you explain that? Why would God use that language of Himself and not just say, I will come to you? He's saying, The Lord of hosts, and the Lord of hosts is speaking, is gonna send me the Lord of hosts. Why?
45:34 Because they're the same, though they're distinct. So what we have here is an obvious realization that the Trinity is not just in pieces. This is we're just laying the basis now of the Trinity. The Trinity is not just this idea of putting pieces together, though it is part in that. We just discovered that there are verses, New and Old Testament, some that display the Trinity in the same verses as three distinct persons, yet one in essence, one in deity, one in Godhood.
46:12 It goes even deeper than that. This is where it gets so thrilling. This is where it gets so exciting because not only are they mentioned together, but many of the mighty divine works of God are credited to all three persons of the Trinity. So we just discovered we just laid the foundation of the Trinity mentioned together in verses, but now we're gonna explore how the Trinity in each person is ascribed and credited for certain works that God has done on the earth. So let me ask this question.
46:48 Who created the world and everything in it?
46:56 It's made through Jesus? God the father? Trinity, good answer. So I need three volunteers, three quick volunteers for scripture reading. I need somebody to read Psalms 100 verse three.
47:12 Psalms 100 verse three. And I would write these down. If you're gonna write anything in notes, write this, the Trinity working together. The Trinity working together. Let's talk about creation.
47:25 Psalms 100 verse three, another person, Colossians one fifteen to 16, and the third person, Job 30 three:four. So the first verse, Psalms 100 verse three. The second verse, Colossians one fifteen to 16. The third verse, Job 33 verse four. Who's at Psalms 100 verse three?
47:46 Sofia? Know that the Lord what does it say? He is God. The Lord, He is God. Yahweh is God.
48:05 And what did Yahweh do? He made us. He made me. He created us. This is creation attributed to God the Father.
48:14 So right there in Psalms 100, the psalmist says that this Lord, this God created you and I. But then I come to Colossians one fifteen to 16 and I find something else. Who has Colossians one fifteen to 16? She is the image of the invisible God. Who are we talking about here?
48:33 Christ, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created by who? I just read in Psalms 103 that it was God God the Father who created me. But no, it says all things including you and me were created by Christ. In heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
48:53 So so far we have the Father. Next, we have the Son. And guess what? The Holy Spirit was not left out when He created everything. Job 33 verse four.
49:03 Job 33 verse four. Anybody have it? Let's just read it together. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. So Psalms 103 tells me God, the Father, God created me.
49:27 Jesus created all things in Colossians one, and now the Spirit of God has made me in Job 30 three:four. So you have the Father, you have the Son, you have the Holy Spirit collaborating, working in unity in this wonderful act of creation that you and I are part of? Second question, who's in charge of the incarnation? Trinity. I think we're we're gonna get the answer for everyone.
49:57 Right? The trinity. But where does our mind go when we think incarnation? Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, maybe?
50:08 John three sixteen, we know it. For God so loved the world, what did He do? He gave. God the Father gave as a gift to the world, as an expression of His love, gave us his son. But Jesus says something interesting in John excuse me.
50:29 In Philippians two seven, Paul describing Jesus in his humility. What did Jesus do? He emptied himself, made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. So Christ didn't do it under compulsion. God God the father didn't put a piece of tape over God the son's mouth, tie his ankles and his wrists, and says go there because I love them.
50:57 And I know our our fellowship is gonna be there's something's gonna happen at the cross, and I know that you're gonna have the sin of the world, but go. And the son's like, please don't. No. No. No.
51:05 No. You have God in His love for the world sending His son. You have the son agreeing. You have the son longing. You have the son yearning and complying and planning with the father to say, Yes, father.
51:24 I will go. Emptying himself, taking on flesh. And then in Luke one thirty five, when Mary had a question about how this miracle of God, the Messiah being born through her womb, the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. So I see the father, I see the son, and I see the Holy Spirit in this work, this miraculous work of the incarnation, all working together.
52:04 No one left out. God sends His Son in love, the Son agreeing, the Son wanting, the Son longing and yearning, humbling Himself, and the Spirit in His power making it happen for Mary to conceive the second person of the Godhead. Who's in charge of the resurrection? Hebrews Hebrews thirteen twenty, the resurrection. We talked about the incarnation.
52:42 Here's the resurrection. Hebrews thirteen twenty. Now may the God of peace I'm talking about God the Father. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus God is the one. The father is the one who brought up the Lord Jesus from that tomb.
53:02 But hold on. We know all this. Right? What did Jesus say in John chapter two verse 19? Destroy this temple.
53:12 Jesus said destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. But the Hebrews just told me that God the father raised him up. No. Jesus said, I'm gonna do it. And to make it even more powerful, Romans eight eleven, the spirit of him who raised Jesus.
53:42 If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, how can you deny this? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and the wonderful mighty work, the redemptive work of the resurrection. They're all there. And now this is where it gets so personal if these ones are not already. This is where it touches our hearts, I believe.
54:07 And it should. Who strengthens you in your Christian walk? Who enables you to live in obedience? Who enables you to continue to walk in victory? Who enables you to serve effectively and fruitfully?
54:29 The Trinity. Psalms one thirty eight. Psalms one thirty eight verse one to three. Let's just read this from the screen. I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart before the gods I sing your praise.
54:50 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you've exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me. My strength of soul, You increased. It's talking about God the Father. My soul needed strength.
55:10 My soul needed help. My soul needed an extra wind to take me on, and I called upon You, and You answered me, and You provided the strength for my soul. God the Father. God the Father. But then, especially if you have the New King James or the King James, that famous verse in Philippians four thirteen, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
55:42 And lastly, in Ephesians three sixteen, just I'm gonna read it. Ephesians three sixteen, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. Is there any doubt of victory in the Christian life when you have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on your side? You have God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit that are all backing you and I up to walk this life representing, exalting, and proving Jesus Christ. Why discouraged?
56:25 And if you believe that one third of the angels are gone, for every demon, you have two angels. So I got God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, two thirds of the angels. I can take on another day. Creation. You have father, you have son, you have holy spirit.
56:45 Oh, so now I can go back to Genesis one twenty six and when it says, let us make man in our image. That makes sense because people would try to argue and say, No, He's talking about angels. But we just read that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were in the work of creation. So us, according to the unity in the symphony of scriptures, is not God and angels, it's God God God. Resurrection, incarnation, sanctification, Trinity written all over it.
57:21 Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important? Is it now that we understand who God is partly? Here's four reasons. Number one, the doctrine of the Trinity deals with apparent contradictions. Again, if you don't believe in the Trinity, how can you understand Jesus who claims to be God, who is worshipped as God, who made statements that only God has made about himself, Jesus praying to God.
57:49 How does that make sense? Unless you're not a Trinitarian. How do you come to a text like Isaiah forty eight sixteen and see that the Lord God has sent me and his spirit? Zechariah two seven to 11, the Lord of hosts who's speaking says the Lord of hosts has sent me. Unless you believe that God is one but is also three persons.
58:11 Number two, if God is not Trinity, then certain attributes of God do not make sense. If God is not Trinity, then certain attributes of God do not make sense. How can you come to a text like one John and read God is love if God is not a triune being? For God in His essence to be love automatically denotes, automatically links the reality that God needed an object to love on in order to be loved, but if he is solo, if he is by himself, before eternity passed, for him to be loved, was he loving himself? In the sense of one person?
58:57 Or is God in His nature three persons, and the Father perfectly loving the Son, the Son perfectly loving the Spirit, the Spirit perfectly loving the Father, the Spirit perfectly loving the Son, and God in His very nature and essence is community Himself. God in His very essence is fellowship. And so when I read God is love, that makes sense because God wasn't lonely, and that's why He created. God is perfectly satisfied within Himself. God is perfectly fine just the way He always was and always will be.
59:30 God is love. The Trinity affirms that. Number three, the Trinity provides an exemplary model for the children of God. If we don't believe in a triune God, we don't have much motivation to live in certain ways that God commands us to live. So you have a text like Ephesians five which says what?
59:54 Wives, submit to your husbands. Wives, submit to your husbands. And you have people who criticize such a command to say, Yeah, see women are subordinate. Women are second class to men. Women are not equal to men because your medieval Bible tells you in this day of age to submit.
1:00:17 But I can point to my God and see Jesus Christ perfectly submitting Himself to the Father, and not being any less God, any less valuable, any less deity than the Father, but understanding His role in light of His relationship with the Father. And we're gonna talk about Christ being fully God, fully man, how Christ made statements like, My God. If Christ is God, why is He calling God His God? I can look to Jesus as my motivation. I'm not a wife.
1:00:50 I'm not a woman, but here's an example that as a I can see Christ and realize that He Himself humbled Himself in light of His relationship to the Father, and He's no less precious and treasured and deity than the Father. So I'm no less human if I obey the commands of God as my role as a wife, for example. Not just that, but the Holy Spirit, the Son, the Father in perfect unity. Do we need motivation for unity? Absolutely.
1:01:24 God help us. We know we need it. And if there's any place to look, let's look at the triune God. Let's look at the fact that they've always existed and they had no problems. Can you imagine the triune God arguing amongst themselves?
1:01:41 We just talked about the fact that they created the world. They were all in part of the incarnation, all a part of the resurrection, all a part of the sanctification still today, and guess what? They didn't bump heads and nor them will they ever. Perfectly symphonized, perfectly honoring their roles, perfectly walking whatever they're walking themselves out in order to glorify themselves and himself. And Jesus said in John seventeen twenty one, in his high priestly prayer, praying for you and me, the church, that they may all be one just as you, father, are in me and I in you.
1:02:22 So in his prayer for us to be unified, he himself, Christ, points to the triune relationship, specifically with the father and say, God, you know, father, the the same way you and I are one, walking perfectly in step with one another, honoring the goal of being glorified, Lord, would you do the same work in the church with the purpose of glorifying us? And when they see us, rather when they see the church, they'll see us. What a powerful prayer. How can that prayer make sense unless there's a triune God? Lastly, the Trinity distinguishes the true God from all other Gods.
1:03:12 There is no God like the triune God as revealed in the Bible. You have some faiths that believe that there are multiple gods, that there is one God but no plurality and persons. Others believe that there is one God who manifests himself in millions of different ways. You have other people who believe that there is a God, but wait, there's not just one God. We ourselves can become gods as humans one day.
1:03:41 But in no other faith is there a God as described in the Bible. One in essence, one in being, co equal three persons who eternally existed and will forever eternally exist. And I wonder if the Bible spends less time trying to explain the Trinity and more time expressing the Trinity for the sole reason that we spend less energy trying to calculate Him and more energy worshiping Him. And just being in awe of Him and sitting at His feet and letting these verses just bring us to our knees to see, God, I don't fully get it, but I understand that it's true. And because of that, I worship you.
1:04:26 You might not be able to fully grasp it with your mind, but you can fully receive it in your heart. When you fully receive it in your heart, remember this, that this is not how God created himself to be. God is uncreated. This is who he is. This is his nature.
1:04:45 This is His being. This is this is Him. We can't change it. We can't dismiss it. The appropriate way to respond to it is to worship Him and love Him, and adore Him.
1:05:05 So the Bible testifies verses of the Trinity described together. And the Bible shows us that not only are they mentioned together, but there are various activities that they themselves participated together in. And we just scratched the surface. And this is how we're gonna respond to this Bible study: Adoring the triune God, loving Him, worshiping Him, and just saying, Oh God. It's that last part that made tears come to my eyes in just studying this, realizing I have God the Father, I have God the Son, I have God the Holy Spirit backing me up in my desire to glorify Him.
1:05:51 And so, Lord, help me understand that moving forward. Help me rely on those truths as revealed in the Bible to stand strong. Do you see how the Trinity brings encouragement and not just information for a debate with a Jehovah Witness that knocks on your door? And that's important. We'll talk about that as well.
1:06:10 But let's just now, in part one, love him. The worship team come up. Let's bow our heads. Father, we pray that if our hearts have not been stirred up to this point that you would do it now. And, lord, we would just stand in awe of you.
1:06:34 Lord, thank you that the Trinity is not some made up concept that man has conjured up, but it is the testimony of the word of God. And, Lord, we join with the psalmist in Psalms one thirty nine. We join with the apostle Paul. And we say, Lord, this surpasses our knowledge. But it doesn't mean it's not true.
1:07:03 Lord, help us respond the same way they did in total adoration of the splendor of the majesty of the complexity of your nature. And, Lord, receive our worship in song. In your name we pray.
