This morning we call your attention to the truth of the Trinity. The truth of the Trinity is the most fundamental truth of our Christian faith, and yet probably the most difficult truth to comprehend and to appropriate. Basic is that truth not only to the doctrines of Holy Scripture, but also to all our blessedness as Christians. In the high priestly prayer of Christ in John 17, He prayed to God (vs. 22), "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one even as we are one." No greater blessing is there in all the world, than that of being joined in union with God in Jesus Christ. That union and communion with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit Who dwells personally in the saints, is a most glorious wonder of divine grace. Take this away, and the whole of our Christian faith collapses. By faith we are grafted into Christ to become partakers of Him and all His benefits. But the foundation of that union is only seen in the truth of the Triune God, 3 Persons in one divine essence. And the importance of our study of that truth is seen by its placement in the Apostles Creed and in our Heidelberg Catechism.
When we read in that prayer of Christ, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," that ought immediately to confront us with the necessity of knowing God. He who knows not "the only true God" is destitute of eternal life! Men have many gods, but the only true God is the God Who gives eternal life to those who know Him. And to know the truth concerning God we must turn to His inspired Word, and with the eyes of faith we must see what God has revealed of Himself in the Scriptures. That will require spiritual concentration this morning. If the judgments of God are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out, then we must expect that the truth concerning God Himself is very deep. But we must not only concentrate this morning and put on our spiritual thinking caps; we must believe with thanksgiving in this one God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also this eighth Lord's Day must be our confession of faith. We must not simply know this intellectually with the head. We must believe in:
GOD TRIUNE
I. A MYSTERIOUS TRUTH
II. A SIGNIFICANT TRUTH
THERE IS A MYSTERIOUS AND WONDERFUL TRUTH THAT RUNS LIKE A THREAD THROUGHOUT JESUS'
TEACHING TO HIS DISCIPLES IN THE UPPER ROOM, A THEME THAT FEW OF US WOULD EXPECT TO FIND:
CENTRAL TO JESUS' PREACHING AND PRAYER ON THAT NIGHT, AS RECORDED IN JOHN 13-17, WAS HIS
REVELATION AND EXPOSITION OF THE TRINITY!
THAT IS SIGNIFICANT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THIS SECTION IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN IS OFTEN CALLED "THE BOOK OF GLORY".
The doctrine of the Trinity has been under attack and has even caused divisions in the church from the earliest times. In the early church of the New Testament era, the Trinity was the first doctrine of controversy. Now, we can look at such controversy one of two ways. It is possible to look at the controversy caused by this doctrine and say, "Let's avoid even thinking about the Trinity. Why cause division over something we can't even comprehend?" Or, we can look at that early controversy and understand that the very heart of the gospel depends upon the truth of the Trinity—which explains why the battle was so very fierce! Jesus' teaching in the upper room suggests that the latter is certainly the truth. The amount of time spent in that sermon revealing the relationships among Father, Son and Holy Spirit underlines how central the truth of the Trinity is to the gospel of our salvation. It was the darkest hour for Jesus and His disciples. It was the hour when they most needed the comfort and encouragement of the gospel. And what does Jesus do? He concentrated on the subject of the Triune God! How important, then, must be the truth of the Trinity for us!
That God is Triune means two things: God is One in Being, and 3 in Persons. The Lord our God is one Lord. Or, as we read literally in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is the one Jehovah."
There are those who deny this truth. In this day and age those who call themselves Atheists are more bold and less ashamed of themselves than ever before. This age of tolerance and God-dishonoring behavior has made it an acceptable thing to deny the existence of God. Certainly at the root of the denial of God is the pride of sinful men. When a man wants himself to be God, it is necessary that he somehow removes or blocks out of his mind those over him. Furthermore, a man may deny the very existence of one only true God because he is afraid of the everlasting consequence of his own sin. If he can banish God from his mind, he can live after the lusts of his own wicked heart, without the fear of being brought into judgment for his sins and sinful nature.
Nevertheless, the oneness of God is a truth that cannot be denied. A beautiful truth it is, too, beloved. When you consider the foolishness of the ungodly who deny God, and those who hold to many gods, how blessed are we who have been given by grace to believe in the one only true God! That is given us by grace, you understand. That is what Paul writes in Philippians 1:29. Else we also are blind and foolish. But remarkable it is that we have been given to believe in the one only true God. Those who would hold to many gods are hopelessly lost. Who do they turn to for this and who for that? It is not only in heathen cultures that you see the hopelessness of idolatry. If they want rain, they pray to a rain god; peace, they pray to a peace god; victory, they pray to their war god; and so on. And all the gods are against each other! But that hopelessness also abounds in our civilized society. The true God is not worshipped and thanked. Instead of God, idols are worshipped: success, power, money, a good time, sex, drugs, food and more. Like slaves men seek these things and devote themselves to these things. And the end is destruction and hopelessness.
Again, I say, how blessed are you who believe in the one only true God Triune. When you meet a Christian, the color of his skin doesn't matter, nor the circumstances of his or her life, the nation in which he is a citizen. Whether the black members of the churches in Jamaica, the brothers and sisters in New Zealand or Australia, those of Chinese and Indian descent in Singapore and in our own congregation in Houston, or those whom we have never met in Russia and Europe and so on, wherever the Christian Church is gathered in truth, they will be worshipping with us the same only true God Triune.
There is only one God. That is evident already in Genesis 1, where we read in verse 26, e.g., "And God said—said is singular in the Hebrew, one God said—"let us make man in our image." And besides the truth set forth in Deuteronomy 6:4, we also read the words of the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 8:4: "we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one."
That God is One also means that God is One in Himself. There is no conflict, no dissension, no disharmony, no discord. God is One God, the one, willing, loving, desiring, living God. We could turn to all kinds of Scripture texts and passages and learn that God is an eternal Being, an unchangeable Being, an Almighty Being, an all-sufficient Being, and so on. And all His perfections or attributes are one in Him. God's Being cannot be divided. One attribute does not play off against another. They all stand in beautiful harmony, inseparable, working together in perfect unity. We call that the truth of God's simplicity. That also we confess in the first Article of our Belgic Confession, when we say, "We all believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God." There is only one almighty Being; there cannot be two. There is only one true and eternal God.
But the doctrine of the Trinity also sets forth that the Lord our God is Three in Persons.
This truth is also denied by some. In church history, the heretic Arius, who denied the deity of Christ, arrived at that position contrary to Scripture after denying the plurality of Persons in the Godhead. Since he argued his position apart from the Word of God, and relied upon his own thinking alone, he could not avoid falling into error. The Unitarians likewise quote Deuteronomy 6:4 when it comes to the oneness of God, but deny to their everlasting damnation the scriptural truth of the Trinity. There are many antiChristian cults which deny this truth. One, and I speak now of the "Jehovah Witnesses," recognizing that John 1:1 rips to shreds their denial of the deity of the Son, have corrupted that text by translating it in their own private perversion of the Bible: "and the Word was a god." So they show themselves for what they are—damnable idolaters whose religion has more than one god, and heretics who must be called to repentance. And if my language, which speaks of everlasting damnation, seems a bit strong, then let me remind you that the truth of the Trinity is so essential to our faith, that Scripture makes clear concerning all who refuse to bow before and to acknowledge this truth of Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity—they stand under the condemnation of God, and hell is their end, except they repent! And I mention these errors—which would also include any which deny the Godhead of the Persons of the Trinity—because if we want to walk in safety and avoid their resulting damnation, we must receive God's revelation as recorded in the Scriptures.
In the one divine Essence are three distinct Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Scripture's teaching is clear also with respect to this truth. When Jesus gives instruction to His disciples immediately before ascending into heaven, he directs them and us that baptism shall be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul in the closing benediction of II Corinthians, pronounces: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." One God, Three Persons; and in that one undivided Being of God each of the Three Persons say "I". Each is God personally. The divine consciousness of the one divine Being is lived by Three Persons.
The relationship of the Three Persons to the one divine Essence is that each Person—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—lives the entire divine fulness and essence in His own personal way. The Father begets the Son and causes the Spirit to proceed from Him. The Son is the eternal image and revelation of the Father, being begotten by the Father, and with the Father causing the Spirit to proceed. And the Spirit is the eternal personal power of the Father and the Son and proceeds from them both. And we know them—and this is the point of Q & A 24—by their distinct revelation to our own consciousness. The Three divine Persons are co-equal and co-eternal in all the works of God. We must not separate the Three Persons, so that one is Creator and one is Redeemer and one is Sanctifier. Scripture makes clear that all participate in these works. But I see God the Father in the work of creation; God the Son in my redemption; and God the Holy Spirit in the work of my sanctification. That is how I experience this truth that is so unfathomable, so difficult to convey in a sermon.
INDEED, THE TRUTH OF THE TRINITY IS A MYSTERIOUS TRUTH.
But the fact that it is a mystery ought not cause us to lower our estimation of its importance nor its beauty. Some people seem to think that that which is mysterious is something that we need not spend much time with; that a mystery is something of which we can only form a vague notion which has no practical significance to the solid elements of knowledge, nor of real daily life. Others make mystery synonymous with contradiction. God is mysterious and therefore we ought not be surprised that there would be contradictions in His revelation to us. That is what some say to justify their erroneous teachings that God loves and hates the same person at the same time, that God offers salvation to all, including those whom He has reprobated, etc. No, that is not true, people of God. The truth of the Trinity is a mysterious truth. But a contradiction is no mystery. There are no contradictions, no conflicts in God. He is One, perfect in unity and harmony.
When we say that we have here a mysterious truth, we refer rather to the fact that we have something here that is hidden. A mystery is something which lies outside the scope of our natural life and thinking. The mystery is that which cannot be uncovered by human reason, or arrived at by speculation; but it must be revealed to us. The truth of God Triune is a mystery. We know it, we know Him only by divine revelation and only insofar as God Himself has been pleased to reveal it. And as God reveals that truth to us, it becomes deeper. And as it becomes deeper, it becomes richer; and you and I fall down and worship and marvel at the infinite majesty of our God. Let us bow in adoring worship before the cloud in which Jehovah God conceals the glory of His presence.
"Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea" (Job 11:7-9). And the reverberation of that solemn challenge is heard in the New Testament praise of Romans 11:33-36: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." Know, vain man, that if you could compass God within the measure of your own understanding, then He would be a creature like yourself.
But if we are to understand the glory of the Trinity, and not just the formula, we do well to return to the upper room. I mentioned in my introduction that central to Jesus' message as recorded in John 13-17 was the truth of the Trinity. Already in the opening verses of chapter 13 the inspired Apostle John records a truth which provides a rich background for that which is to follow. Jesus' home was in heaven; He came from God and to God He goes. The Lord Jesus is the One Who in the beginning was with God and was God. He is the One through Whom all things were made. Later, in John 17, as we read, Jesus made the most explicit claim to His eternal Godhead when He prayed: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (vs. 5).
In the upper room Jesus spoke of the indescribably rich relationship in which He stood to the Father. He walks with Him and talks with Him, goes forth at His Word and does His will, glorifies Him and receives glory from Him. And He says in John 14:11, "I am in the Father, and the Father in me." There is the mystery of the Godhead, beloved! But an even greater mystery is that wonder, when Jesus Christ dwells in us and we in Him. We speak now of that wonder of faith, as expressed in the figure of the living graft in John 15.
But not overlooked by Jesus, nor could it be, was the place of the Holy
Spirit in all this. In John 14:16, Jesus tells us that He shall pray the Father, and He
shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever. That Comforter is
the Holy Spirit. But what is so beautiful is this: In the Greek, when Jesus says, "I
will send you another Comforter," what you have is this: "another—of
the same kind." This Comforter Who is the Holy Spirit, is the same kind as the Son,
and therefore as the Father. And we read further, "But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26). And in the next chapter, John
16:14,15: "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it
unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take
of mine, and shall shew it unto you." The Spirit, Who possesses the essential
properties of the Father and the Son, has the authority and the power to show us what
belongs to the Father and to the Son.
HAVING SEEN THIS, WE SEE THAT THE TRUTH OF GOD TRIUNE IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT FOR OUR
SALVATION.
IN OUR STUDY AND BELIEF OF THE SCRIPTURES, WE FIND THE WONDER OF OUR OWN SALVATION
IMBEDDED IN THE VERY NATURE OF GOD AND HIS THREE-PERSON EXISTENCE.
God is the living covenant God. His life is a relationship of friendship and fellowship, of love. Again, that is a truth of the Trinity. If God were only one in Person, there would be no possibility of fellowship and communion. But because there are Three in One; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live together within the one divine Essence in rich covenant fellowship of communion and love. That is the foundation of our salvation, beloved. If God were not a covenant God, there would be no covenant between Him and us.
No, it is not that God had need of man or of the creation to make His glory and blessedness more full. The covenant life of God is perfect, complete, totally happy and full beyond measure. But in counsel with Himself, God created. And He said within Himself, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. He willed to establish His own covenant life with a people outside of Himself. He created to reveal Himself as the Three in One, the glorious God Who saves His people in Christ. And then, He does not reveal His covenant life simply by telling His people about its blessedness and perfection. But of the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit, He takes His people into His own covenant life, so that they experience its blessedness, and in that way enjoy fellowship with God.
We are elect in Jesus Christ and created and redeemed and sanctified unto everlasting glory of God the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. Never may we forget that the glorious salvation which is proclaimed in the gospel not only has its origin in the infinite grace and mercy of God, but in His own covenant life and threefold personality. In the infinite mind and fellowship of the eternal Triune God is the decree set forth. The Father, speaking to the Son, proclaims, as we read in Isaiah 42:6: "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."
In response the Son answered, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:7,8). And, as we read in John 17, He continued in His intercession: "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them" (John 17:4,10).
But the Spirit, who is sent from the Father and the Son to sanctify us, is also in the mind of the Son Who prays: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:17,20,21a). As the grace of God descends from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, so also it ascends to the glory of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by faith in Christ the Son, that we might be presented blameless and without spot before the Father.
In the upper room on the night of the last Passover, Jesus knew that the deep mysterious truth of the God Triune was the truth of utmost significance for His children that very night. That was the teaching they most needed to hear. For it was necessary that they and we also come to know God in all the fulness and richness of His divine Being. What desolation to wander in the vastness of the darkness without the companionship of the Triune God! Jesus wanted us to know God in His eternal glory, and to realize how magnificent He is, far beyond our human comprehension. He wanted us to see that the Triune God Who loves us and Whom we love is indeed God the Father Who loves us, the Son Who came to die for us, and the Spirit Who brings us into the very heart of God and Who brings God into our hearts.
On this eve of the darkest night of the disciples' lives, Jesus preached to them the truth of the Trinity, because He knows that only the people who know their God will stand in the evil day. And they shall sing with the psalmist the confession of the 62nd Psalm: "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God" (Psalm 62:6,7).
Amen.
Preached: Randolph PRC 9/22/96 (am)
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