The Trinity

Our Lord Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry. Words which look ahead to the Lord Jesus coming to this world. Isaiah 61 and verse 1. The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion.

To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning. And a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness. A planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated.

They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

And you will be called priests of the Lord. You will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion. And instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance. And so they will inherit a double portion in their land and everlasting joy will be theirs.

For I the Lord love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. And in my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed. I delight greatly in the Lord.

My soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For the soil makes up makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow. So the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. Now may God add his blessing to that reading from his word.

I'd be glad if you'd have your Bibles open at Ephesians in chapter 4. We're going to read together some verses which have become quite familiar to us here in the tab during these Sunday mornings. And from the third verse. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called. One Lord. One faith.

One baptism. One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Listen to some words from A.W. Tozer.

He says it is not a cheerful thought that millions who live in a land of Bibles who belong to churches and labor to promote the Christian religion may yet pass the whole of life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being of God. Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I am. Now if that's the case then I think it's very tragic that many Christian people can be so caught up in the hurly-burly of life that they never just stop and think about God.

The person of God. His nature. His grandeur.

His splendor. And this really is something that we are called to do as we make our way through these verses that Paul pens in Ephesians 4. Last time I'm aware I took you to this little cluster of scriptural comment in in which we find, define, set down the the several unities of the Christian faith. And we look to the concept of the the one spirit verse 4 and the the one Lord verse 5 and the one God and Father of all verse 6. And it might be that we felt poised then to move on into the rest of the verses.

But it seems to me probably I was triggered off in my thinking by Tozer. It seemed to me that that would be dealing far too hastily with this teaching. We need to to stop a little longer at any rate in our Sunday morning meditations and think about the the person of God.

That great doctrine which we fondly and conveniently refer to as the doctrine of the Trinity. I read a book not so long ago in which the author said it was very rare that any congregation is addressed on the doctrine of the Trinity. And if that is so then once again it is tragic, it is unfortunate.

But perhaps in in one sense there's an understandable reason as to why this should be a neglected doctrine. For we're dealing with something that is very very complex, very difficult to grasp. And indeed all that one can share with a congregation are seed thoughts.

It's the Lord God who tells us in the Old Testament in Isaiah 55 and verse 8, my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts. And the Apostle Paul when he's writing to the Romans he says who can know who can understand the mind of God. God is far greater than our human comprehension.

We speak about God, we use terms to describe certain of his attributes, but we know full well that if we had the full range of the total human vernacular of all the languages of the world then we would not adequately explain nor define this God. And so I suggest that there is perhaps a degree of reluctance to speak about the Godhead. There's an understandable neglect.

It's not the neglect of disinterest, it's rather the fear of handling something that is too big, too great for us. And yet here encapsuled within this little cluster of verses is set down for us that the fact that there are three constituent members of the Godhead. The Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father, in other words the Trinity.

And I think I would be doing you wrong if I didn't bring your attention back to the Godhead and suggest that we reflect upon it once more. It's a neglected doctrine and in one sense understandably so. But hear me, it's an attacked doctrine.

What do I mean by writing up on the overhead screen there that it's an attacked doctrine? Well let me put a question to you. What do the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Christian scientists and the Mormons and the Moonies and I could continue, have in common? And the answer is this, they attack the doctrine of God as revealed in Scripture. They've all got several other permutations and they differ one from another in many many ways.

But they have this outstanding common denominator. They deny the doctrine of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And many alas it is the weak evangelical Christian on the doorstep who totters under the interrogation of the Jehovah's Witness, who brings certain scriptures to the fore and suggests that you have a wrong understanding of the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

He is not God. And they seem to be able to produce evidence for placing Jesus Christ at a lower category than the Father. And many evangelicals alas just breathe a sigh of relief when the Jehovah's Witness has gone back down the garden path and out from their particular vicinity.

I think that's tragic. I think it's necessary for those of us who name the name of Jesus Christ, who are Bible believing Christians, to be fully conversant as much as you can be with the nature of the Godhead. And to be able to grasp at least in part what Paul is referring to when he talks about one Spirit, and one Lord, and one God and Father of all.

Yes, Paul is a Trinitarian. I think I could demonstrate this to you simply by recourse to the Ephesian epistle without even going into any other. But there are many other passages of Scripture, many other of parts of the letters that he penned, that substantiate my declaration.

Paul is a Trinitarian. You look at him in the opening chapters of Ephesians. Turn back to the first chapter if you will.

And he's dealing with the grand doctrine of salvation. And he recognizes that this is the height of spiritual blessing. And it comes to us through whom? Well look at the second verse.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He's talking about our salvation.

And he tracks it back to the Father and to the Son. And if you're not careless in your reading and you're prepared to go further, you will discover that by the time he gets down to the 13th and 14th verses, and there are previous intimations of this, he also concentrates on the mighty Holy Spirit. Verse 13, And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

Having believed, you were marked in him, in Jesus, with a seal. The promised Holy Spirit. And you see there, the play is on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The whole of salvation. It is attributed, attributable to them. It is traced back to them.

Drop down if you will to the 17th verse. Where the Apostle says, I keep asking that the God, the first person of the Trinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit. And that has got a capital S in the NIV, and quite rightly so.

The NIV translation of the Scriptures may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you might know him better. Again you see, bringing into play the three constituent members of the Trinity. Perhaps it's even more clear in the 18th verse of the next chapter.

For through him, the Lord Jesus Christ, we both have access to the Father by the one Spirit. Well, need I go further? Actually I'm very tempted so to do. But I have a battle on once again this morning with my, with my watch here.

The pulpit clock's given up completely these days, for which I'm grateful. But my watch alas, is still relatively accurate. So I will rest my case there.

There are other verses that I could bring to bear from Ephesians, and from other epistles. Some of which I've quoted here on this transparency. Where the Apostle brings into, into focus.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And the way that their ministries are emphasized, indicate that they're one in purpose. As well as, I shall show you, one in essence.

So that will do for our introduction. Let me try to break it open a little bit more. I want to speak to you about the person, or the persons of the Godhead.

And the position of those persons, and also the purpose. The persons of the Godhead. And the first thing for me to remind you, should be obvious.

Each one of them is divine. Each one of them is divine. In other words, each one of them is God.

So when the Apostle here, in verse 4, refers to the Spirit. I'm now back to Ephesians 4. He is referring to the Divine Spirit. The Spirit of God.

And likewise in verse 5, to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Divine Son of the Living God. And verse 6, well obviously, One God and Father of all, who is over all.

Now how can you demonstrate the divinity of Spirit, Son, and Father. Using the sequence in which they are named in these verses. Well you do so by taking one example.

The very definition of the word God, means that whoever claims to be God, must be eternal. If God was not eternal, then it would mean that someone existed before God. You follow the logic of that.

You can hardly fail to do so. So one attribute. There are many that I could select.

Omnipotence, omniscience, and so forth. But I'm settling for just one attribute of God. And one example, which will do for us to test the persons of the alleged Trinity from Scripture, is that of eternity.

The eternal nature of God. Listen to F.W. Faber, in a lovely poem of his, when he speaks of the eternity of God. He says, Thou hast no youth, great God.

An unbeginning end thou art. Thy glory in its own abode. And still abides in its own tranquil heart.

No age can heap its outward years on thee. Dear God thou art thyself. Thine own eternity.

There in beautiful poetic language, Faber is describing this attribute of God. The eternal nature of God. Now reversing the order of the Apostle Paul.

When in the Old Testament Scriptures, we read of God. How is he declared? How is he described? Well let's take a sample shall we. And once more, I'm embarrassed by the number of options that I could take up and placard before you.

But, but let's look at Psalm 90, and the second verse. As you're finding it, let me read to you also the first verse. Psalm 90.

Here is a reference to the great God Almighty. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born.

Or you brought forth the earth and the world. From everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God.

We could move on to the 102nd Psalm, and the 26th verse. Here is a contrast between the created handiwork of God, and the fact that that has its seed of decay within it. And God himself.

I'll read from the 25th. Psalm 102. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens, and the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be discarded.

But you remain the same, and your years will never end. Lovely language isn't it. It's describing the greatness of God the Father.

Now isn't it interesting that when you come into the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ on several occasions makes reference to his prior existence before he was born as a babe in Bethlehem. The Lord Jesus then was incarnated. He took upon himself flesh like yours and mine.

But with this one exception, without sin. But prior to Bethlehem the Lord Jesus Christ existed. His eternal nature is claimed on several occasions in his public ministry.

I give you one example. Here he is in John's Gospel and chapter 8. And he's having a bit of a difficult time. His adversaries, the Pharisees, the critics are around.

They're rejecting what he has to say. He's making a contrast between Abraham and himself. And he speaks of Abraham in such language that he seems to know Abraham.

And they say well this is absurd. You're not yet 50 years of age. How is it that you can talk of Abraham as though you know him.

And the Lord Jesus in one of the most stupendous declarations that ever left his lips has this to say in the penultimate and final verse of John 8. I tell you the truth. Jesus answered before Abraham was born. I am.

He takes the divine name. He claims the eternal attribute and therefore he claims to be divine. And the fact that the Pharisees read him rightly is seen in their reaction.

For they believed he was committing blasphemy. And indeed if his claim was wrong it was blasphemous. But our contention is that his claim was quite right.

And they were right in their understanding but wrong in their reaction. Because they rejected the concept of Jesus as divine. As eternal.

So we read up this. They picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus hid himself slipping away from the temple grounds.

Here again I say is an example of our Lord Jesus Christ claiming divinity. Claiming eternity. That glorious text Hebrews 13 verse 5 is one that you should all know by heart.

Or rather Hebrews 13 verse 8. I can't read my own writing on the transparency here. Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever. Think that one through.

What is the claim? Well he always exists. The great God and Father to whom reference is made in the Psalms has exactly the same attribute as our Lord Jesus Christ. And let us proceed.

Let's refer to the to the Holy Spirit. And just one example. Although there are several others that I could quote.

Both in the Old Testament and also by implication in the New Testament. Let's turn to that book of Hebrews to which reference has just been made. And here is a most remarkable comment.

Which actually is assessing the value of Calvary. And is showing us that at Calvary our salvation is won. Not only by the death of the Lord Jesus.

But the operation of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14. How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God.

Cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. Again you've registered the intonation of my voice. As to what point for what part of the text for our purpose this morning is exceedingly important.

The eternal spirit. Eternal. That means never ending.

There never was a beginning. There never will be a completion to his existence. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

All sharing that one attribute of eternity. And if you're eternal. Then by pure definition and the application of simple logic.

You are claiming to be God. So there in very brief summary fashion. Is what the scriptures teaches in regard to the person of Christ.

The person of the Father. And the person of the Spirit. All this the Apostle Paul has in mind.

When in that little cluster of verses. He refers to the oneness of the Trinity. But not only the person of the Spirit.

And the Father. And the Son. Is necessary for me to share with you this morning.

But also the position. The position. What do I mean by that? Well once again we're thinking in terms of this sincere but misguided Jehovah's Witness.

Or Mormon. Or any other member of a cult. And we would never criticize the individuals.

I abhor the cults. But I have great tenderness. And in some way respect for the individual card-carrying member of a cult.

Who often has far more enthusiasm. God forgive us. Than Bible believing evangelical Christians.

Well here is your Jehovah's Witness. And he tells you. Well Jesus Christ is a most remarkable being.

But he is the first created being. He is less than God. You can give him every other designation you like.

You can heap all the honor on him. That you want to heap. But he is less than God.

Well we discover that the JW. And the Mormon for that matter. And the Christian scientist.

Runs into trouble. When they are brought face to face. With some of these great Trinitarian scriptures.

Which accord to our Lord Jesus Christ. And to the Holy Spirit. Equal rank with the Father in the Godhead.

Let me give you just one example. Let's turn to the one that's screened for you. In Colossians and chapter 2. And the 9th verse.

Colossians chapter 2 and verse 9. Speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in Christ. All the fullness of the deity lives.

In bodily form. All the fullness of the deity lives. Every vestige of God.

Is reproduced. In our Lord Jesus. Not that Jesus is all of God.

That there can be. Because alongside the Lord Jesus. There is the Father and the Spirit.

But he is every wit as bit God. As the other two persons of the Trinity are. That's why if you read into Hebrews 1. You will discover the anonymous writer of that epistle.

Says of our Lord Jesus. That he is the very exegesis. That's the Greek word.

The very exegesis of God. In other words. The essence of God resides in him.

And therefore our Lord Jesus is 100%. Divine. He ranks alongside the Father.

Alongside the Holy Spirit. But you say you're still puzzled sometimes by the Jehovah's Witness. After all he'll point you to a verse of scripture.

In which the Lord Jesus says something like this. My father is greater than I. And there are certain passages in the Gospels. Which seem to suggest.

That the Lord Jesus is there. And the Father is there. And then you run into difficulty.

You're filled with confusion. Unless you have the whole of the teaching of scripture. About the Godhead.

Very much in your mind. Now I really want you to shake your head. And forget that clock striking for a moment or two.

Because this is important. Perhaps one of the most important things. I've ever shared.

With a Sunday morning congregation. Very helpful commentators will sometimes use this term. In talking to us about the Godhead.

The economic Trinity. What do they mean by that? Well simply this. When God the Son became incarnate in Bethlehem.

There was a change in the economy of a Godhead. So to speak. You say I find that very difficult to understand.

All right listen to me. Hear me very very seriously. And think hard.

Do you remember in Hebrews. References made to the Lord Jesus Christ's birth in Bethlehem. The reference is made in Hebrews.

And it says our Lord Jesus became a little lower than the angels. Not for a permanent period. Not for the whole of the eternity to come.

Or the eternity gone by. But just for a while. He's made a little lower than the angels.

In the economy of the Godhead. And to bring about salvation. There are certain rights and privileges.

Which he jettisons. A little lower than the angels. He accepts while he's on earth.

If you like a slightly subordinate position. Let me put it to you in the in the words of Paul. As he writes to the Philippians in the second chapter.

Speaks in grand language of our Lord Jesus. Tells us about him before he was born in Bethlehem. And about what he became as a man.

And ultimately what he became when he returned to heaven. Philippians 2 and verse 6. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who being in very nature God.

Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant.

Being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself.

Or as I think the AV perhaps puts it. He empties himself. And becomes obedient to death.

Even death on the cross. You see this is the economy. Here is this great second person of the Trinity.

Born in Bethlehem. There's a change that he undergoes. Voluntary.

Within the gamut of the plan of salvation. Conceived by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He becomes a little lower than the angels.

He empties himself of some of the attributes that were his in the eternity gone by. And he does it for what reason? To achieve our salvation. To identify with each one of us.

So in the economy of God. In the economic Trinity. As our Lord Jesus is on earth.

There is that sense. In which for a while. The thirty odd years of his lifespan.

He seems to be lower down on the rung. And this was for him no problem. He countered not equality with God.

A thing to be grasped onto. So that Bethlehem became for him obnoxious. Rather he willingly came on this earth.

And identified himself with us. And what happened at the end? Well he's crucified. Then he's resurrected.

He ascends into heaven. And he is given ultimately that name. Which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. And every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father. What has happened? He's returned to that great privileged position.

That was rightfully his. Before the incarnation. The economy of our salvation is over.

The Lord Jesus Christ subsumed back into the eternal Godhead. Receives praise and honor and glory. Along with the Father and the Spirit.

So God is over all. Blessed forever. As Paul says in Romans 11.

And as he makes it very clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And I think it's verse 58. So you see how important all these things are for us.

To have in mind our Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit. The Father.

The positions co-equal. There is a sense in which our Lord becomes less than the angels. Less than the Father in achieving the plan of salvation.

But you see here. And this is the last thing I really have to share with you this morning. The full purpose behind the Apostle Paul speaking in Ephesians.

And indeed the purpose of the activity of God on planet earth. Is to bring salvation to men and women. And salvation is not achieved simply because Jesus died.

The little child who says when she comes home from Sunday school. Mommy I love Jesus but I hate God. Is to be understood and lovingly corrected.

But the Sunday school teacher ought to be admonished. This great God and Father is not away from the Son in the business of salvation. The Holy Spirit is not detached from the purposes of the Son.

Together they have the same essence. Together they share the same purpose. God the Father sends the Son.

The Son comes. That blood on Calvary. It's offered through the eternal spirit.

And I am saved. Not just because Jesus died. But because the Father willed it.

And the second person of the Trinity is in accord. And so is the Holy Spirit. And ultimately the plan of God is achieved for each one of us.

And salvation comes. But salvation is not the end behind God's purposes on this earth. Why am I saved? For my benefit.

Why are you saved? For your benefit. Well these are byproducts. I thank God I'm saved.

There is nothing more that delights my soul than to know. And I speak humbly and with praise and glory to God. To know that I'm a child of the King.

That if this heart stops beating I'm with the Lord. Whether I'm in life or whether through death I go into heaven. I can't lose.

I am saved. I bask in the joy of that. And the knowledge that I have of this great God who loved me and gave himself for me in the person of his Son.

But the end product of his purposes on planet earth is not merely to achieve your eternal pardon or redemption. It is to secure his glory. To secure his glory.

Why? Because eons ago at the very beginning of the human story Adam was made in the likeness of God. A distinct difference between Adam and any other created animal. He had the mark of God upon him.

And the glory of God in Adam was snatched by the devil. As he snatched the glory of God from the sons and daughters of Adam down the centuries. But my glory says God I will not give to another.

And so in this remarkable fathomless plan of salvation the whole Trinity comes into action. The Father, the Son and the Spirit. And the work at Calvary is a Trinitarian drama.

And I am born again by the shed blood of Jesus. Through the application of the power of the Spirit. And by the express design of eternal God.

Now isn't that marvelous? I wish I had words to have made that more clear than I feel I've done this morning. But the last thrust is this. Why was Paul talking about one Lord, one Spirit, one God and Father of all? Well the incredible thing is this.

He wasn't even trying to teach theologically. You remember what Paul had been saying. You Christians there at Ephesus.

You want to live lives that show that you love one another. In utter harmony. In a determined effort to keep the unity of the faith.

Live really as though you loved one another. Share what you have with one another. Open your hearts.

Open your homes to one another. All this is implicit in those first three or four verses. But why Paul? Because it's efficient for us to do so.

Because if we live like that we're stronger as Christians. No says Paul. Those are byproducts.

You are to do this because and the thought is mind-blowing my friend. That's how God lives. Father, Son, Spirit.

One in essence. One in purpose. Sharing.

No disaccord. No brokenness. No cleavage within the Trinity whatsoever.

Perfect unity. Perfect harmony. And what my dear brother and sister in the name of God are we as Christians.

But the reproduction of what God wants us to be. As we take from his life. And as we live as people who are children of the King.

If you're not loving your brother and sister. If you have a resentment that's building up. If you grab your home and you use your car and you control your finances as though they belong to you.

Then I feel that, God knows I often feel it. That I must have failed as a preacher over here in 13 or 14 years. We are to reproduce that very love of God within the members of the Trinity.

One with the other. That's what Paul says. Endeavor to maintain.

To keep the unity of the faith. As there is one Spirit. And one Lord.

And one God and Father of all. Who is above all. And through all.

And in you all. What fantastic teaching. To make the simple point.

That we ought to live and love as Christ lived. And loved. Amen.

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree. And wither and perish. But naught changeth thee.

Father our human frailty would cause us to despair. We would but be cogs in an evolutionary process that is absolutely mysterious, illogical and absurd. But we thank you for your great revelation.

And for the way that you've linked us, our lives to yours. We praise you that you keep us in life through death and into glory. Because of the greatness of your nature.

Many of us would like to thank you for the memory of Ruby Hattersley. And for the thought that now this dear lady who withered as a leaf on a tree has now been taken into the immediate presence of God. And we thank you that our meditation this morning has underlined the sense of making a commitment to this great and glorious God and Father of all.

Amen.