A Trinitarian Community

Deut 6:4 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

REVIEW

one God - three persons - not parts, fully God - equal in power and glory.

INTRO

many think it’s funny or weird to get into these details. but here’s the deal - ideas have consequences. and especially over time.

rifle illustration. - foundation illustration.

we’re setting a trajectory for our children, our grandchildren, for our entire community, parish, and beyond.

we gotta make sure that we are yielding our lives, our consciences, everything to all of scripture.

SO TODAY - lets do the work.

FIRST - There is only one true God

the foundation of monotheism - building culture. What kind of culture?

one law - one code of ethics - one justice.

a unifying force for society. - neighbors have common senses of decency, morality, ethics.

and with that common foundation - a common purpose - a common mission.

EX: wartime propaganda illustration. “during wartime, it’s easy to get everyone unified and on mission”

And with one mission - one purpose - one law...

you have more ability to covenant with one another. more enterprise opportunities, economic growth, more benevolence, more charity, a better economic state, more stable, more flourishing.

“a house divided cannot stand” - but a house united means more flourishing for all.

BUT the polytheistic foundation - many gods - no unifying center - no central code of ethics - no central law - and so...

less trust, less covenant, less enterprise, and charity.

Thomas Chalmers - Glasgow ill.

And where did that type of reasoning come from? Christianity.

this is also why the majority of the advancements of the world came from northern africa and western europe… because of Christianity - monotheism - the foundation was laid for it.

piano - the printing press - better fabric production - all came from the foundation of Christianity.

this is where universities came from - uni - one - one central truth that guided them.

See how this concept relates to:

Science - one God means one standard for logic, reason, math, physics.

polytheism believes not in order - but in chaos

Time - linear with one beginning point - now we have a purpose. History has a goal.

polytheism? - well, with the french revolution and the revival of polytheism came nihilism, heavy drug use, and escapism.

Law - without one central law, evolutionary thought rules. Might makes right. Simple majority rule.

in a society with multiple truths - well - look at the chaos - we burn our own cities to the ground, kill our own children, and cut off our own genitals.

APPLICATION

As we can see - anyone bringing the Gospel is bringing with them a new life. freedom. prosperity. blessing.

but as a society rejects this idea - it disintegrates - a house divided...

why? because ideas have consequences.

so, a pastors job is pretty serious then. 1 cor 4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

even the slightest deviation from the truth causes chaos down the road.

the founding fathers of the US - rather than explicitly writing in our founding documents the foundations of Christiendom, they assumed them. And as result.... in just less than 300 years. You see?

So for us - we take the truths of the Bible all the truths, and we lay them all, rightly understood, as the foundation.

Because to be quite frank - our birthrate outpaces the rest of our region by quite a bit. Therefore… in a few generations… well. we better make sure the foundations are sure.

THE ONE GOD IS THREE PERSONS; FATHER SON AND HS

Remember the baptism of Jesus - all three present.

And this comes with MAJOR implications.

1 john 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is love.... we’ve heard that a bunch huh?

but lets think this through. How is God love?

well, because he’s been loving since before the foundation of the world was laid.

BECAUSE he exists in TRINITY - locked in eternal love. The father, son and HS.

ASIDE - God doesn’t need you to be the object of his Love. We were created based on the OVERFLOW of his love. Because his LOVE is Fundamental in who he is since the beginning of time.

Yes his love for you is extravagant, and we should sing of it forever… but his love for you is not the culminating point.

he IS love. Therefore, he is perfectly holy. He is perfectly just. And we can trust him for the best interest of all of the universe.

A unitarian god cannot truly love. Why? Because it’s a selfish, individualistic, love.

Allah - selfish, and as such these countries are as well.

polythesitic? the Gods fight and compete for love. And as a result? tribalism.

John 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

Unselfish, overflowing love. and you only get that with the doctrine of the trinity

and only with the trinity can the world experience TRUE love.

AND NOT ONLY THAT - But in the Godhead we have UNITY in DIVERSITY

and only in Christianity - true Biblical Christianity - can we experience this in the world.

Unitarian, Muslim, countries impose unity. They control (or attempt to) even people’s thoughts. The home, what you wear.

Isalm, communism, western liberalism.

and this is also why one-ness pentacostal churches can be very legalistic.

POLYTHEISTIC CULTURES - impose diversity. Creates social fragmentation, tribalism, caste systems, social statuses, etc.

Truly free countries - historically - have been the reformed countries. Where the trinity has ruled. A unity in God and a diversity of gifts and callings is celebrated.

Application: AND SO we can see where our freedoms, while they may be waning, originated.

and this also helps us see why these things must be fought for. Because it’s our kids and the future of the kingdom on the line.

AND THIS IS WHY we gotta watch out for false teachers.

And maybe in a more subtle way than you think.

False teachers come in, they use words like LOVE and UNITY, buzz words of the day, and eventually they begin to impose a different gospel, a different will, a non-unity.

Then, enter the nice guy. “Look guys, while I don’t agree, I can kinda see what they’re saying”

They’d rather have unity than conflict - but that’s false unity. And it’ll eventually erode everything. Look at Methodism, Episcopals, Lutherans, and the Roman Catholic church at large.

Historically, faithful men who have stood on the truths of Scripture - have been loved by all? no way. they’ve been hated.

So what do we do with false teachers?

We correct them, maybe they’re just clueless, but then if they won’t repent, you put them out. 2 John is a warning to the church to not even show hospitality to a false teacher.

and we’ve had to do this before.

Shepherd the sheep. Shoot the wolves.

SO IF THERE IS A DANGER - your pastor and elders need to know about it.

Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

So it might cause division among us. I got you. It might cause some issues. Yup. Worth it. Think of your great grandchildren. Think of the future city we’re building.

If we are going to enjoy the blessings of truth, that means we have to get a backbone. and be willing to expose false teaching.

otherwise. the house divided comes. the foundations crack.

And the Gospel going forth to the generations of the world, the kingdom of God, is worth more than that.