The Holy Trinity in Special Revelation

Introduction

Good morning brothers and sisters of LaFayette Baptist Church, it is great to see you all again today. I am excited to get to share with you a special sermon today. This is on a topic that some have asked me to speak on before, so here we go! Before we begin, and this will be different than we usually do, let’s pray. Father God, refine us. Refine us in Your word. Your word is truth. Help us put anything aside today that keeps us hearing from You and understanding whatever it is You want us to understand today. It’s in these things that I ask and In Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray, Amen.

Now, I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine waking up one beautiful Sunday morning. In fact, let’s say that it’s either Father’s day (for the guys) or Mother’s day (for the ladies). You wake up, hearing a scrambling in the house. You have kids, and they are young. Let’s say one is 8 and one is 6. You hear some things drop on the floor in the kitchen and then you hear an enthusiastic yet hushed “shhh” from your oldest. You smile. Then after about 10 minutes, the kids poke their head in your bedroom. Mom (or Dad) they say, could you come into the dining room please? They both ask you enthusiastically. You get up, knowing that you have observed (through sound and your imagination) what you are about to receive. That would be, a lovely handmade card and breakfast of cereal and toast (and probably chocolate milk too) waiting for you at the table. What a nice treat, usually you are fighting the kids to get up, but on this special day they have gotten up and made you breakfast!

You know, in kind of a similar way that we got to observe this “surprise,” God makes Himself obvious to us as well. He has given to us what we call special revelation, and with it we can see thatwe observe The Holy Trinity in special revelation. This is today’s sermon title and main point.

Context

The idea of the Trinity is an important one in all of Christendom. In fact, it is one of the questions I have been asked since becoming your pastor, and explanation for the trinity has been one the things that has occurred many times from the youth and several times as an adult. This makes sense to me, as it is a very hard idea for us to wrap our human minds around.This is because in our human minds we see and understand the world and the things within it in ways that we can observe. As such, there is nothing else on the Earth that we can observe like The Trinity.

So, what is it then? The word itself helps describe it, and perhaps better said is The Holy Trinity. It’s word/name with the part “tri” in it implies that there are three parts of it, much like a “tri”angle has three angles. So, the Holy Trinity has three parts. These Three parts, or persons, of God include: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God The Holy Spirit. It is also what we refer to as The God Head, meaning all the parts or persons of God.

You may remember the contemporary Hymn, How Great is Our God, that refers to the God Head as three in one. That’ exactly what they are, they are the persons of one God (The God Head). All three of these persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, are all equally God and equal in Glory and Majesty. They are all God, yet all three of them make up God or what we refer to as the God Head. At the same time, they are not different, they are the same being. They are all fully divine.

Our information on The Trinity and why it matters is important for believers everywhere. Our understanding of it directly impacts our understand of our faith and of our God in whom we have that faith. For example, if we have a bad or false understanding of The Trinity, we are likely to have quite a bit of confusion during The Lord’s Prayer, especially that Jesus would ask us to pray to The Father who is in Heaven, which we know is God the Father. That being said, we would also have quite a bit a confusion when putting together the creation account in Genesis 1 and The Word of God (Jesus) as presented and compared to John 1.

That being said, many false teachings and examples of The Trinity have been given throughout the years. One that you have heard me mention before is Modalism, which teaches that there is one God, but he changes Himself, into different modes as He sees fit. I imagine this almost like a shapeshifting superhero who changes when the need arises, so He goes from Father mode, to Jesus mode, to Spirit mode all at different times but can not be all three at the same time. Scripture just doesn’t support this thought, and we will look more at that later in this sermon. Another false teaching would include that of Arianism, that implies that Christ was a created being and not fully divine. Another that would make implications on the divinity of Christ would be Gnosticism. All of these and many have existed in history. In fact, these have led to huge conflicts, false believers, and believers being genuinely confused of the truth. You may remember us touching on that quite a bit when we went through 1st John together a few months ago.

The Trinity’s presence itself and the doctrine of it have lots of implications to us. One of the biggest that I illuded to earlier is that God, though three is also one, that He is both Three and One at the same time. This helps us understand certain scriptures more fully, such as Jesus’ baptism and scenes of the Father and the Lamb in the Book of Revelations. The existence of the doctrine, that is widely accepted today among Christendom, also implies that it was important to the believers of the past to define and explain it. This was done at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. So, this idea or theory, which I would say is a fact, has been long held by Christendom, many have tried to attack it in many different ways, it has held true and endured for nearly one thousand seven hundred years. This speaks to the trueness of it and foundational aspect of it.

So, what then informs our understand of The Trinity. Well, it is God’s revelation to us. What is revelation then? To put it simply, it is something that God has revealed to us. This by in large has two large categories. The first is general revelation, this is things that God has revealed to everyone. An example would be found by observing the heavens and the Earth, that they declare God’s glory and handiwork. We see this spoken of in Psalm 19, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. The other type of revelation would be Special Revelation, this is especially things such as God’s word (The Bible) and what it reveals to us as well as the particulars and truths of The Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us by God the Holy Spirit. So, with those things in mind, let’s delve deep into our main points and the scripture that backs this up.

Main Points

The first point is, God the Father Known- 1 John 3:1

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Once again, you will remember that we went through this scripture together a few months ago. You will also remember how we discussed that in this portion of 1st John, that we began focusing on our (believers) relationship with the Person of God. So, John here makes a clear statement. That children of God, meaning believers/all Christians have a relationship with God the Father. This is a relationship of enduring, patient, and steadfast love that endures forever.

This love manifests itself in many ways. It could be through blessings that he gives us in our day to day lives. Most notably through is in sending God the Son, Jesus Christ to atone for the sin of mankind. That is, God sent Himself (God the Son) to be the sacrifice to pay the debt for sins. This is a sacrificial debt that we could never pay. No matter how many sacrifices or how many good deeds, no one could ever come close to paying off the wretchedness that is our own personal and imputed sin. However, God being rich in love and mercy for us paid the price Himself. Jesus shed His blood on the cross to provide this sacrifice that we so desperately need. Belief in Christ, in the truth of who He is and what His gospel means for us accepts this payment for our great sin debt. This is true, and it is trustworthy.

Also notably, is that God’s love manifests itself to us in a relationship. God the Father is our true spiritual Father if you accept Christ the Son. All believers are aware of this relationship and know that we can ask anything of Him that is within His will. If we ask these things, they will be given as 1 John 5:14-15 tells us which reads, 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” Perhaps the most important application of this is though, that our hearts would be attuned to His will, that our wants would be His wants and that we seek a deeper relationship with The Father. So, we need to always be seeking to put anything away in our lives that keeps us from finding more joy in this relationship with Him.

Our second point is, God the Son Known -John 1:1-18.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f] who is at the Father's side,[g] he has made him known.

If you would all please bear with me, I know that is a very long portion of scripture. The most important thing that I want you to understand from this is that “The Word” means Jesus Christ. He (Jesus Christ) is the Word from the beginning, from which all things that were made, were made. Jesus Himself was not created, as we were, but rather He was there at creation and all things were created through Him. He is the living Word of God. He brought life, and is Himself the light of man. Whereas, man was shrouded in darkness, the darkness of sin that goes all the way back to Adam our father, and is passed down through the ages. This means, our sin comes from way back and it continues to this day, each and every one that is or was or will be born is a sinful creature. However, Jesus came as the light to us. He has both the means and ability to take this darkness, this wretchedness and remove it from every person who would accept this free gift that He offers.

Jesus, The Word of God, took on flesh. He became flesh and blood, just like us. He dwelt among us as any other person. He was foretold to us long ago. One example, among many others, if found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.” This is true, He was with us, He lived, breathed, ate, drank, walked, ran, and felt emotions just like we do. He knows what it’s like to feel joy as we do. He knows what it’s like to feel sad and even suffer like we can. He knows everything about us, not just as the creator, but also as the creator who felt and experienced everything just as we do, because He did too.

It needs to be noted and made distinct and clear, that it is impossible to know God without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (you can perceive that there is a God but not know Him). All other ways are false, Jesus even declares that He is the only way to know The Father. Through Him is the only true way to have an authentic relationship with God. This is through our faith in Him, and I want to make that distinction. You can have a knowledge-based belief in Jesus, but do you have a faith-based belief? This is what is necessary. We can know something, and not accept it. As I can know it’s bedtime but refuse to accept it and not go to bed and sit and watch TV some more. This knowledge does me no good until it is applied to faith. So, I urge all today who can hear my voice, to take on the Lord Jesus today and live. Know what it is to truly know God. Accept Jesus Christ’s death on the cross today for your own and you will know God and will stand uncondemned before Him.

Our third point is, God the Spirit Known- John 14:15-31.

15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[f] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[g] in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

I can only imagine that this would have been one difficult scene for the disciples to endure. Their Lord, their teacher, their friend has once again told them that He will leave them. What’s worse, it doesn’t sound like a good leaving at all. They don’t want this. However, Jesus tells them, that you want Me to leave. You want Me (Jesus) to leave because when I do, I will send another to you. This other is God the Holy Spirit, the councilor, the convector. This is the person that exists and lives within every brother and sister in Christ today. The second we have a true belief in Jesus and accept His death on the Cross, God the Holy Spirit lives within us.

He works on us in the time or occasion leading up to this acceptance. He is ever present with us, He pushes us towards the Father’s will. He makes us the Christians and believers that we are. To grieve Him, is a travesty. He is grieved when we sin, He is grieved when we do not accept Jesus. He is also the most powerful being in the universe, and He is in us and all around us in this sanctuary today. He doesn’t just live in this church, our very own bodies are His temple, places of worship of Him. He dwells in us, He comforts us. Most importantly, He calls us to the truth. Beloved, have you accepted His truth? Are you prepared to accept Jesus and His Lordship in your life today? He is a gentle and loving savior. He desires you to join the heavily family as a son or daughter would. Perhaps best of all, He never leaves us. The Holy Spirit is always with us. Trust in Him today.

Our fourth point is, God the Trinity Known-Matt 3:13-17.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him,[c] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,[d] with whom I am well pleased.”

Here we find one of the most striking examples of The Trinity within scripture. In fact, this is the only time in recorded History that mankind has witnessed all three persons of The Trinity in one place at once. This is the scene of Jesus’ baptism by his cousin, John the Baptist. In it, we see John doing what he does, Baptizing people for repentance of sins. Then, as he knew would happen, Jesus, God The Son came to Him. What must have been striking to John was that he would be asked by Jesus, God Himself, to be baptized by him. What an honor this could have been, what an odd thing. As I’ve said several before, when Jesus came He turned the order of things in this world upside down. The weak became strong, the poor became rich, the most powerful being ever was born as the lowest of the low in the filthiest of conditions (when it would have been proper to have the best doctors in the grandest of palaces), and for one off occasion a human baptized God.

So, we know Jesus here. Then, another of the Trinity came down, God the Holy Spirit and descended upon The Lord Jesus. Now we see two, Jesus and The Holy Spirit. Then, thundering from the heavens comes God the Father saying, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well please.” There they are! There are all three of them! This disproves almost every falsehood of the trinity that has existed in history, especially modalism in my opinion.

What a wonderful God we serve. What a beautiful savior we put our trust in. Keep in mind that this account was witnessed by many. Yet, there it stands, attesting to God. Attesting to who He is and what He is like (in some small measure). Beloved, hear this and believe this. In God is no darkness and only light. Why then do we doubt sometimes? Why then do we not trust God’s attestation to who He is? It is because we are frequently lied to, our flesh, our world, our sin tells us that there is something better. I’m telling you, there is not. Don’t believe the lie! It will never serve you; it only seeks to destroy you! Brothers and sisters, put aside all sin and all things that separate you from God. Ask for His forgiveness and He will give it to you, believe in The Lord Jesus and you will be made whole again!

Conclusion

Beloved, have you heard and understood what it is I am telling you today. The Trinity is real, and all portions of Him are to be trusted. Do you trust Him as a child would trust it’s parents. Do you know that God the Father is Revealed to us as 1st John 3:1 told us? Do you understand that God the Son is Revealed to us as John 1:1-18 tells us? Do you rejoice that God the Spirit is Revealed as John 14:15-31? Did you observe The Trinity revealed in Matthew 3:13-17? All of this is under the idea or main point that, we observe The Holy Trinity in special revelation.

Believers, brothers and sisters, take heart in this. This all comes down to an important issue. That is, not only do you trust God, but do you trust what God has told us about Himself? Do you trust his special revelation to us, The Holy Bible. If not, we have some work to do. Yes, giving trust is a hard thing to do. Trust though, in God, is always appropriate and always right. You can never go wrong by trusting God. Take whatever it is in your live that keeps you from trusting and believing in Him and put it away. Ask for His forgiveness, which He will give with arms wide open.

To the non-believers with us today. I want to make it clear to you. God is real. I have explained a hard truth about Him to you today. Think on it and trust it. While we are here, let me share with you some important news. That is, that God created the world and everything in it good, including you. Sin though, entered this world through our own pride and selfishness and has separated us from God in such a way that through our own deeds could never be restored. God though, being rich in love for us and mercy provided the way to be restored through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Accept His payment today and you will be made whole again.

With that, I would like to conclude. If anyone would like to talk, then during our last song together I will be here if you need. Let’s pray. Father God, thank you for this truth you have shared with us today. Thank you for your divine and special revelation to us, Your Word. Let us treasurer it and keep with us always. Help it permeate our every thought and decision. Make it touch deep in our inner self, so deep that comes out and motivates us to share You with others. It’s in these things I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray, Amen.