11.06.22 Evening - Baptist Catechism Q10

Good evening. •We are continuing our study of the Baptist Catechism.  •More specifically, we are using the edition found in the white catechism booklets that we give away here at the church.  •And this evening, we come to Question 10. •This question has to do with the Triune nature of our God. (The doctrine of the Trinity.) •Our question this evening is this: “How many Persons are there in the Godhead” Just as I said two months ago when we considered question #8 (What is God?), our question this evening is an intimidating one for me.  •“How many Persons are there in the Godhead?”  •I know the answer. I know how to defend it from Scripture. (Many of you do, too.) •But this question has to do with the doctrine of the Trinity. And that doctrine is unfathomable.  •There are books and books and sermons and lectures on the doctrine of the Trinity. It is so deep. It is beyond human comprehension.  •There are questions that it raises that I cannot yet answer well.  •And there are questions it raises that nobody can answer because God has not revealed the answer.  •Once again, we are dealing with who God is. We are dealing with His nature. We are dealing with the Triunity of Almighty God.  •And that is a subject that requires reverent fear and humility to even begin to consider and speak.  So, I’m going to review the basics of this doctrine.  •I’m a disciple, just like you. I’m still learning. And I cannot yet teach this doctrine as deeply as I’d like to.  •So I’ll only scratch the surface this evening.  My goal in this sermon is to simply set the doctrine before you and show you how to defend it from Scripture.  •I will not and cannot fully explain everything about it. Nobody really can.  •It’s something that we receive by faith. That is, it’s something that we receive solely because the Word of God declares it.  •God’s Triune nature is not something we can reason ourselves to from nature. It is only by Scripture, by special revelation, that we come to know that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That there are three Persons in the one God.  •And so, we receive this doctrine because GOD HIMSELF HAS REVEALED THE TRUTH ABOUT HIMSELF.  But, again, it is not something that we can fully comprehend.  •It is not an illogical doctrine. Rather, it is above human logic and reason and must be received by faith.  •It is not something that the Church has ever sought to explain to human satisfaction, but instead has only affirmed and sought how to describe what the Bible says on the subject.  A couple of books I would recommend to anyone who wants to study this doctrine further: •Simply Trinity by Matthew Barrett.  •The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott R. Swain. •Check those out. They’re really helpful introductions.  But, with that said, I’m going to pray and then we will consider our catechism question for this evening.  (PRAY) Our Triune God,  We thank you for another Lord’s Day where we could rest and devote ourselves to worshipping you.  And as we are gathered again this evening, we ask that you would once more meet with us at your Word.  By your grace, work in us and sanctify us in your truth. Your Word is truth.  Open our eyes to behold wonderful things in your Law.  And grant us faith to believe whatsoever you’ve been pleased to reveal about yourself in your Word.  Help us to submit to the Scriptures, even when they go beyond our fallible and finite human reason.  Help us to humble ourselves before your Word, that you might grant us understanding and insight.  Work in us now for you glory.  We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.  Amen.  Our question for this evening. I ask that you read the answer with me.  Q. How many Persons are there in the Godhead? A. There are three Persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.  •(Let’s do that again.) 1.) Let’s begin by defining the terms used in the catechism.  •What do we mean when we use the word “Godhead?” •That term was once pretty common because of the universal use of the KJV Bible. But it’s not used much anymore unless you’re reading older books/translations of Scripture.  So what is that? What does “Godhead” mean? •Well, Fisher’s Catechism (an exposition of the WSC) rightly tells us that “Godhead” refers to the divine nature or essence of God.  •Romans 1:20 says this: For His (God’s) invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made…” •That was from the ESV. That same verse in the KJV says this: For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead;  •Our catechism is using the language of the KJV Bible to speak about God’s divine nature/essence.  •So we can rephrase our question to more modern English and ask, “How many Persons are there in the one divine nature?” •There is only one God and one divine nature. But is there a plurality of Persons within that one nature? And that leads us to another term we must define: Person. •Again, Fisher’s Catechism is helpful here. There it is rightly stated that a divine Person is,  •“A complete, intelligent, and individual subsistence (manner of being/existing), which is neither a part of, nor sustained by any other; but is distinguished by an incommunicable property in the same undivided essence.” Let me go ahead and break that one down a bit.  •When we take all of the biblical data together (we will see this in a bit), we must conclude some things about God. •We conclude that a Person in the Godhead is an individual manner of being (a Person/subsistence) that is not part of God but is fully God.  •And each divine Person is not sustained by anything or any other Person in the Godhead, but shares the one undivided nature of God and is God in and of Himself.  •The Persons in the Godhead share the one divine nature but are distinguished from one another by what theologians calls Eternal Relations of Origin: •The Father is eternally unbegotten and proceeds from none. This is how He stands in relation to the other two Persons.  •The Son is eternally begotten by the Father alone. This is how He stands in relation to the other two Persons.  •And the Holy Spirit is eternally proceeding/spirating (being breathed out) by both the Father and the Son. This is how He stands in relation to the other two Persons.  •The Father is distinguished as the Father, the Son as the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit.  •Aside from these relations of origin, there is no difference between the Persons because they all share the ONE UNDIVIDED DIVINE NATURE.  •That’s why even though our catechism says that there are three Persons in the Godhead, that they are at the same time “the same substance, equal in power and glory.” (They are co-equal in every way because they share the same nature.) IN SUMMARY SO FAR: •Within the one God, there are three divine Persons/modes of being who are each fully God in every way and are distinguished from one another by their eternal relations of origin.  •These three divine Persons are ONE GOD, not three gods. And they are the SAME in substance (nature), equal in power, and equal in glory.  •As the hymn says, “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.” Now we turn to defend this glorious doctrine of one undivided God in Three Persons.  And we will do so from the Word of God.  2.) First, and most simply, we must remember that the Scriptures are abundantly clear that there is ONLY ONE GOD.  •The primary statement of faith of Israel declares this: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4) •The most central tenant of our religion is that there is only one God.  •As Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… So, brothers and sisters, whatever else we see in Scripture, we must hold this tightly.  •Everything we read must be filtered through this one fundamental truth: THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.  •So if we see multiple Persons being referred to as God, we are forced to conclude that in the one God, there is a plurality of Persons.  •Even if we don’t fully understand this, we must confess it. The Scriptures are the very Word of God wherein He reveals Himself and we are not at liberty to reject the testimony of God Himself. •Scripture does not contradict, it is harmonious. And so, we must hold all the biblical data together.  •And the first thing we must hold is that God is ONE.  3.) Next, we consider that indeed, even in the OT, the Scriptures speak of a plurality within the One God.  •Consider the creation of man in Genesis 1:26. There God, the ONE GOD says, “Let US make man in OUR imagine, after OUR likeness…” •God refers to Himself in the plural. This is a strange thing if there is not a plurality of Persons within God.  •(The OT hints at God’s Triunity. But the NT makes passages like this very clear.  Another OT text that hints at plurality in God is Genesis 19:24.  “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurs and fire from the LORD out of heaven.” •Again, there seems to be a plurality within the one God. •The LORD rains down fire from the LORD. I don’t know how to explain that if there are not multiple Persons in the one God.  •Again, this is a hint that is made more clear by NT revelation. Without the NT, we’d never understand the fullness of verses like this.  There are a handful of other passages like this in the OT that kind of wink at God’s triune nature.  •But in the NT, what was hinted at is made explicitly clear.  •Consider John 1:1-2: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. •John tells us that “IN THE BEGINNING was the Word.” This language mirrors Genesis 1:1. This is before creation. The Word is, therefore, uncreated.  •And then John says that “the Word was WITH God.” So there are clearly two Persons John is referring to. (You cannot be “with” if there is only one. And the Word is called a “He” just like God is throughout the Bible.) •But right after John tells us that two Persons were there in the beginning, He says that “the Word WAS GOD.” •God is obviously God, but so is the Word.  •So there are, in this text, two distinct Persons (God and the Word) and both ARE GOD. That is, both SHARE THE DIVINE NATURE and are rightly called God.  •John is clearly telling us that there is a plurality of Persons within the One God. There is no other legitimate way to read this text.  Another NT passage: Matthew 28:19.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” •Notice here in the Great Commission that Jesus says that disciples are to be baptized into the ONE NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  •There is ONE NAME of God. And yet, three Persons share that ONE NAME.  •There is a Trinity of Persons in the One God. They all share the ONE NAME.  There are other texts that we could consider. But I think the point has been sufficiently made:  •There is a plurality of Persons within the One God.  •Specifically, there are Three Persons in the one God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  4.) Now let’s defend our belief that each of these three Persons are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.  •We will now consider Scripture that declares each of the Persons to be truly and fully God.  1. The Father is God.  •This fact is absolutely undisputed. Even among anti-Trinitarian cults, everyone affirms that the Father is God.  •More importantly, this is affirmed all over Scripture. (Often when “God” is mentioned it is a reference to the Father.) •So I won’t labor the point this evening.  •God the Father is God.  2. Let’s consider the deity of the Son. The Son is God.  •First, remember the kinds of things that Jesus, the Son of God, did during His earthly ministry: He controlled nature, He healed the sick, raised the dead, restored sight, etc.  •Jesus did things that only God can do. He demonstrated complete sovereignty over the created world.  Second, consider the authority that Jesus has.  •In Luke 5:20, as well in other places, Jesus says things like this: “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” •Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. And notice He doesn’t say, like the Elders of this Church, “On behalf of God, I declare that your sins are forgiven.” No, Jesus just forgives the sins.  •And that, brothers and sisters, is something only GOD can do. Jesus is God.  Or consider John 8:58.  •There our Lord says, “…before Abraham was, I AM.” •There Jesus uses God’s Name (I AM. Exodus 3:14) and applies it to Himself. This is a claim to Godhood.  •Furthermore, for Jesus to claim to have existed before Abraham, even though Abraham died thousands of years before, tells us that Jesus is ETERNAL. (Notice He does not say, “before Abraham was I was.” No, He says “I AM.” He has always been. He is eternal.) •And only God has the right to use the divine name. And only God is eternal.  •Again, Jesus is God.  Now let’s turn to a passage in the book of Hebrews to see the divinity of the Son.  •Hebrews 1:10-12 says of the Son, “…You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” •That text is a direct quote of Psalm 102:25-27.  •Now, why is that important? It’s important because Psalm 102 is a prayer addressed to GOD.  •v1 of that Psalm says, “Hear my prayer, O LORD…”  •LORD=Yahweh. The formal name of God is used here.  •And this prayer, addressed to Yahweh, is applied to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. (There is no new addressee for the rest of the Psalm. It is to GOD all the way though.) •So our Lord Jesus Christ IS GOD. What is prayed to God is prayed to the Son of God. What is said of the Father is said of the Son.  •Jesus is God. He shares the divine nature with the Father. Comparing OT passages about God to NT passages about Jesus, we turn now to Isaiah 44:6.  •There we read, Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” •The LORD, Yahweh, God, says that HE is the FIRST and the LAST. Those titles belong to God alone. And there are no other gods to take those titles from Him.  •And when we turn to the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, in Revelation 22:13 we read the Lord Jesus saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” •Yahweh is the First and the Last. And Jesus is the First and the Last.  •The only reasonable thing to conclude is that Jesus IS YAHWEH. He is God. The Son of God is God.  Next, we come to what is one of my favorite texts that establishes the deity of the Son of God.  •In John 20, the risen Lord Jesus Christ is appearing to His disciples.  •And in vv26-29, He is meeting and speaking with a disciple who doubted His resurrection, Thomas.  •And there we read that after Thomas placed his hands in the wounds of Christ, Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and My God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” •Thomas looks at the Son of God and calls Him, “MY LORD and MY GOD!”  •Thomas affirms the deity of Christ. And notice that Jesus doesn’t rebuke him, but instead commends those who believe what Thomas believed without having seen the risen Christ.  •Jesus didn’t silence or rebuke Thomas. Surely, Thomas didn’t exclaim in shock and blaspheme the name of God without the Lord Jesus rebuking him.  •No. Thomas didn’t blaspheme. He confessed that Jesus is GOD. And Jesus received the title because HE IS GOD.  Lastly, and most explicitly, Romans 9:5 says this: “To them (the Jews) belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” •Jesus, the Christ, is God over all, blessed forever.  •And we say with the Apostle and the whole Church, “Amen. The Son of God is truly God.” 3. Now we will consider the deity of the Holy Spirit.  •First, let’s consider some of the attributes of the Spirit of God.  •And we will see that attributes that the Holy Spirit possess are incommunicable attributes that only GOD possesses.  First, He is ETERNAL.  •Hebrews 9:14 says that Christ, “…though the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God…” •The Holy Spirit is eternal. As we’ve established before, only God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. And here the same is said of the Holy Spirit.  Second, the Spirit is OMNIPRESENT.  •Psalm 139:7 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” •The answer is “nowhere.” You cannot run from the Spirit. You cannot be out of His presence. He is everywhere. He cannot be contained.  •And, again, this is an attribute of God alone.  Third, The Spirit is OMNISCIENT.  •1 Corinthians 2:10 says, “…For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” •The Holy Spirit searches EVERYTHING. That is not possible for a finite creature to do. We cannot know all things. It’s too great for us. But God can.  •And the Spirit searches even the depths of God. Surely, no creation can fathom God’s depths. But the Holy Spirit can. Why? Because He shares the same nature as God.  •The Holy Spirit is God.  Consider also that the Holy Spirit is one who gives GRACE and PEACE to God’s People.  •Revelation 1:4 says, Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne… •Seven Spirits is a symbolic way of naming the Holy Spirit. (A sevenfold Spirit is mentioned in Isaiah and it refers to the Holy Spirit.) •And this Spirit that is before the throne of God gives grace and peace to the Churches to whom John wrote. •Grace and peace cannot come, ultimately, from anyone but God. Furthermore, notice that John says that grace and peace comes from “Him who is and who was and who is to come” (that is God) “AND from the seven spirits.” •So the two Persons, the Father and the Holy Spirit, are BOTH givers of grace and peace. They are put on the same footing as equals.  •Why? Because both share the divine nature.  •Again, the Holy Spirit is God.  Lastly, and most clearly, we turn to Acts 5:3-4.  •There we read about how Ananias and Sapphira lied about how much money they were giving to the Church.  •And then the Apostle Peter says, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? …You have not lied to man but to God.” •Peter says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. Then Peter says that Ananias lied to GOD.  •The only conclusion is that the Holy Spirit, the one who was lied to, IS GOD.  Brothers and sisters, the Spirit of God shares the divine nature with the Father and the Son.  •Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the ONE GOD.  5.) Now we turn to consider that each of these three is a real Person/subsistence. A real being/mode of existing and not an idea or force.  •Each of the three Persons are real, rational beings. They have a will, they “think,” so to speak, they “do,” they “are.” 1. With regard to the person of the Father, nobody questions that He is a real Person.  •He does, He speaks, He acts, He is a “He,” and all the rest.  •So I need not defend this tonight.  2. Likewise, nobody denies the Personhood of the Son.  •Again, the Son, the Lord Jesus, speaks, wills, and acts and all the rest throughout the Scriptures.  3. But when we turn to the Holy Spirit, some deny that He is a real Person.  •Cults like the JW’s believe that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force. An instance of God’s power.  •They’re wrong. So let’s consider some biblical proofs for the Personhood of the Holy Spirit.  First, we read Jesus’ words about the Holy Spirit in John 16:13-14: “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” •Notice first that EIGHT TIMES the Holy Spirit is called a “He” by our Lord. The Spirit is NOT an “it.” He is a Person. He is a “He.”  •That personal pronouns are used of the Spirt of God tells us that indeed He is a Person.  But notice also in John 16 all of the things that the Spirit DOES.  “He will guide you…He will not speak on His own authority…whatever He hears He will speak…He will declare…He will glorify…He will take…” •He is doing an awful lot of stuff that only a PERSON can do: Guiding, speaking, hearing, glorifying, and taking. •You’ll also remember in Acts 5 that the Spirit can be LIED TO. You can’t lie to an impersonal force. You can only lie to a PERSON.  •And in Acts 16, the Spirit FORBADE Paul to preach in Asia. Only a Person can forbid something.  •This should be enough to establish His Personhood. (Though there is more that could be said.) Brothers and sisters, just like God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is a true Person.  •He is not an “it” or a force. He is a He. He is a Person.  •He is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.  6.) Now, I want to demonstrate to you that the Three Persons are not the same Person, but are actually distinct from one another.  •God is not one god with three masks that He wears at different times. Rather, God eternally and always exists as Three distinct, individual Persons.  •Let’s consider some proofs for this: 1. The most famous proof that God is truly Three individual Persons is found at the baptism of Jesus.  •Matthew 3:16-17 says, And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from Heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” •Each Person of the blessed Trinity is seen here. •The Son is baptized. The Holy Spirit descends and rests on the Son like a dove. And the Father speaks from Heaven concerning His beloved Son.  •Truly, they are Three individual Persons.  2. A second example that demonstrates that each Person is distinct from the other is found in Psalm 110:1. •There King David writes, The LORD says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” •We know from the NT that this is a conversation between Jesus and God the Father.  •The Father speaks to the Son. He is not talking to Himself in this text. That would render the text absurd.  •So we see here that the Father and the Son are distinct Persons. They can talk to one another.  3. Third, and lastly for our purposes this evening, we turn to John 14:26.  •There we read Jesus saying, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name…” •We see the Son speaking about the Father. So there is a distinction between these two Persons.  •And we also see that the Father will send the Holy Spirit.  •If the Third Person is SENT by the First Person, then we must conclude that they are not the same Person or, once again, this verse makes no sense.  Brothers and sisters, God is NOT one Person who wears three masks at different times.  •No, as hard as it is to fathom, our God eternally subsists as three distinct Persons who share the one undivided divine nature.  7.) My dear brothers and sisters, I hope I have sufficiently explained and defended the very basics of the doctrine of God’s Triunity.  •In light of all that we seen this evening, I believe that we are compelled to confess with our catechism: •“There are three Persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” Now, what application can be made from this?  •Why does this matter? Why is it important that we know these things? •Since I’ve been preaching on the Trinity, it’s fitting that I have three things I want to put before you for application.  1. It is important for us to know that our God is a Trinity, because if you deny this doctrine, you have the wrong God.  •If you deny that God is a Trinity of divine Persons, then you are an idolater.  •Brothers and sisters, this is a First Commandment issue. We are dealing with WHO GOD IS.  •And we must not deny what God has revealed about Himself, lest we deny God and reject Him altogether. LET ME BE CLEAR: There is a difference between misunderstanding and being confused about God’s Triune nature, and willfully rejecting the truth.  •It’s one thing to say, “I don’t really understand it. But clearly there are Three Persons in the One God. And all three are to be worshipped and glorified. But I can’t really understand how all that is.” •That’s fine. We want to learn more and grow past that as much as we can. But confusion is not the same as denial.  •It’s an entirely different thing to say, “God is not a Trinity of Persons. I reject that. I will not worship a triune God.” •The first is a confused and learning believer. The second is a heretic who is rejecting God’s own self-revelation.  •Those who deny God’s Triunity have created an idol for themselves based on their own human preference, and human wisdom and reason.  And to this, let me warn you, there are anti-Trinitarian heretics in our area. •We have JW’s, Mormons, and Oneness Pentecostal (Apostolics) not far from this building.  •And chances are, you’ll run into one. They may come knocking at your door. A friend may turn to one of those cults. A stranger may engage you someday. Your own personal evangelism may bring you into contact with one of these.  •And you need to know how to speak and defend the truth about God. •And you need to know the truth yourself in order to be protected from their heresies. Because they will try to deceive you and lead you away from the Living God and to a dead idol that will damn your soul.  Brothers and sisters, this is no small matter.  •We are dealing with who God is.  •And we must know who the only living and true God is.  2. This doctrine is glorious and leads us to worship our God in humility.  •This doctrine goes over our heads.  •How is God both three and one at the same time? •How is the Son of God begotten (is the SON), but has no beginning, for He is God? •How does the Spirit proceed from the Father and the Son but is equal to both in every way? •How do three Persons share the same divine essence? •This is beyond us. We can affirm the truth because we see it in God’s Word. But we cannot fathom it. We can’t fully comprehend it.  Brothers and sisters, there is nothing in creation analogous to this.  •There is no fitting comparison to be made.  •There is no metaphor that conveys this truth accurately at all. (Water, shamrocks, the sun, etc. None of that works.)  •They all collapse into heresy at the slightest push.  •And so, we must simply affirm what the Bible says about God and deny anything contrary to it.  •That’s as close as we can get to understanding the Triunity of our holy God.  LET ME BE CLEAR: There is no logical contradiction in this doctrine.  •We are not saying that God is one in the same exact way that He is three. (That would violate the law of non-contradiction.) •We are saying that He is one in one way (nature) and three in another way (Persons).  •That is not a contradiction.  •BUT IT IS A MYSTERY. It is something that we cannot comprehend. It is simply beyond human reason.  AND THIS SHOULD MAKE YOU WORSHIP.  •God is beyond us. He is deeper than we can go. He is an unquenchable fountain.  •His very nature is beyond our comprehension.  •This God is worthy of our worship.  •I don’t want to worship a god I can understand. Such a god would be on my level and be my equal. Such a god is no God at all.  •But the fact that God is above human reason and comprehension declares that He is worthy of our worship.  Some of you may say, “I can’t grasp this doctrine.” •I say, “GOOD!” •If you could fully understand the nature of God, if you can understand Him fully, then you have a finite being who is no God at all.  •His incomprehensibility is a great reminder that we are dealing with the TRUE GOD.  •No human being would’ve thought this up.  •No other religion has a Triune God.  •No man would’ve thought to make a God whose very existence is beyond our ability to comprehend.  •This tells us that the God we read of in Scripture is GOD INDEED! Brothers and sisters, as you consider the Triunity of God, you should be led to humbly worship the God who is above you and beyond you. 3. Lastly, our salvation could only be accomplished by our Triune God.  •The FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT covenanted in eternity past to save a People for Himself.  •The FATHER sent the SON into the world to save sinners.  •The SON was made flesh by the HOLY SPIRIT in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  •The SON worked our redemption by His life, death, and resurrection, according to the will of the FATHER, empowered by the HOLY SPIRIT in His human nature.  •The FATHER and the SON have sent the HOLY SPIRIT to apply the work of redemption to the hearts of the Elect.  •Because of the work of the SON, the FATHER has sent the SPIRIT to dwell in us.  •The SON has made us sons. The FATHER has adopted us. And the SPIRIT dwells in us to sanctify us.  The Gospel itself is founded on the work of the Triune God.  •No Trinity, no Gospel. No Gospel, no salvation.  Christian, your salvation has been accomplished by the Triune God.  •So worship Him! •And glory in the Holy Trinity! Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him, all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.