1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Englewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning into our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,120 about important issues facing your life that can guide you 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:20,280 according to the Bible. Well, I want to welcome 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,760 everybody who's here physically. Thank you so much. 8 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,920 Every week I'm always amazed that you come. 9 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:30,200 Thank you also for coming to pray together and just pray that 10 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,759 you will continue to pray, pun intended. 11 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,160 But also for those listening online to this, either on a 12 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,720 podcast or some of the means, thank you for doing that. 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,640 This is an interesting lesson tonight. 14 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:47,320 That's an understatement. There is obviously no way in the 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:52,240 world that I can explain the Trinity period. 16 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,400 Secondly, that we could do that in the time we have tonight, but 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,240 we're going to do our best to explain several things we do 18 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,360 know and we can talk about. I think. 19 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,160 So I think this will be helpful and I really do hope that you 20 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:09,040 understand the two fold aspect of this core training series. 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,240 That part of this is obviously for you and your knowledge that 22 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,280 you will know better about beliefs and theology and 23 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,480 doctrine and things like that. But another side for me, which 24 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,080 is very important, is that you'll also have a better idea 25 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,280 of how I could articulate these things to somebody out there who 26 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,000 doesn't believe in in God or doesn't believe Scripture or is 27 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,600 lost. I had the privilege today and 28 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,320 you may be in the room if you aren't so thankful for you for 29 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:39,240 your honesty and authenticity. Today I had the privilege of 30 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,680 praying with a couple on the phone during my lunch hour, 31 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,520 which was brief. We had actually a three-way 32 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,960 phone call and a couple accepted Christ, prayed and accepted 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:50,640 Christ and are going to be baptized soon. 34 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,320 And So what a privilege that was. 35 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,200 And they were so excited and so cooperative in that and, and 36 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,120 they'd had an experience as children and they were just, 37 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,560 they needed to know all that down. 38 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,080 But there are people out there who've had no experience really, 39 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,759 or they've had a really bad one. You know, a lot of the 40 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:13,200 unchurched people in the United States of America are previously 41 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,720 churched people. And the number one reason 42 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,680 besides apathy and complacency and things like that, there 43 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,880 really is often there's been a bad experience somewhere. 44 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,240 And so sometimes they have kind of a negative thought process 45 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,320 about the church. So we want to help them. 46 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,200 We want to love them, and we want them to understand here's 47 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,560 what we believe about it. So if we understood all the 48 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,840 attributes of God, we would still not understand him fully 49 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,800 because again, he reveals to us what we need to know. 50 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,920 I'm assuming one day we'll know more, but but he does exist. 51 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:53,000 And this is where it starts getting tricky right off the 52 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,160 bat. And this language is going to be 53 00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:00,120 repeated often tonight in this session because he exists as 54 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:06,200 three persons, yet as one God. And throughout history there 55 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,000 have been all kinds of attempts, attempts to have simple 56 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,760 solutions to that. So you hear all kinds of 57 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:14,800 analogies. You hear all kinds of 58 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,600 illustration. You hear things like I'm a 59 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,440 father, I'm a son, I'm a husband, I'm a paw paw, or that 60 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,240 water exists as a liquid, water can exist as a solid, water can 61 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,480 exist as a gas. And, and those are our human 62 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,200 frail attempts to try to understand these things. 63 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,400 And, and, and, and there's nothing really wrong with that, 64 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,360 although some of them have led to some heresy. 65 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,320 We'll talk about some of those, but they all really do fall 66 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,600 short. So what is God like within 67 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,480 himself? That's the question of the 68 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,800 night. What is God like with himself? 69 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,040 Last time in our last session, we, we looked, we, we discovered 70 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,400 what God looks like to us and, and how he relates to the 71 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,480 creation and who he is and, and whatnot. 72 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,880 Next session, this is going to be really important. 73 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,160 We only have a couple more sessions of this specific 74 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,960 series, but the next session we're actually going to talk 75 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,280 about and just follow me for a minute, sins against God. 76 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,840 But we're going to talk about some specific things like what 77 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,520 is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, for example. 78 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,920 We'll talk about that next time, and then we're going to talk 79 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,240 about some of the things that God is doing, and then we're 80 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,560 going to have a prayer service together on a Wednesday night 81 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,920 coming up. But anyway, So what is God like 82 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,520 within himself, in himself, in his very being? 83 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,920 God exists in the persons of Father, Son, and the Holy 84 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,880 Spirit, yet he's one God. And we know that. 85 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,320 When you believe only in one God, what is that called? 86 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,120 Yeah, monotheism. We know that, and so we are 87 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:48,320 monotheistic as believers, but we often get accused of being 88 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,800 tritheistic or polytheistic because of the Trinity. 89 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,120 There are certain belief systems out there to where if you're 90 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,480 sharing the gospel with someone from the Islamic background, for 91 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,040 example, don't start off by talking about the Trinity 92 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,200 because that's immediately going to put up a barrier because they 93 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,880 do not believe in the Trinity. And they think that because we 94 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,640 believe in the Trinity, we're actually idolaters and we 95 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,400 worship multiple gods. And so there are things about 96 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,240 this, but there are religions who do believe in monotheism. 97 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,120 Islam is a monotheistic religion. 98 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,440 Judaism is a monotheistic religion. 99 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,640 They believe in one God. So the doctrine of the Trinity, 100 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,080 though, is exclusively Christian. 101 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,000 Christianity is the only faith system that has any kind of 102 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,000 trinitarian formula, right? And so I'm going to try to keep 103 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,400 this as this extremely complex conversation as simple as I can 104 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,080 make it, but it is complex. And so it's it's often also 105 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,560 greatly misunderstood because it's confusing. 106 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,240 There's only one God, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy 107 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,600 Spirit our God. So it's a paradox, it's a 108 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,040 mystery, and we're never really going to get beyond that too 109 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:04,720 much. But there are certain things 110 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,640 that we can learn. So this doctrine claims that God 111 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:14,280 is 1 as to essence, but three as to persons. 112 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,560 And I'm going to try to explain that to you the best way we can. 113 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:20,720 But it's interesting because nowhere does Scripture really 114 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,440 make that statement. The word Trinity does not occur 115 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,720 in the Bible, and so it is inferred. 116 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,000 It is, it is described and, and, and we recognize the doctrine 117 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,520 because of this, but it has a contentious history. 118 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,640 It has not always been agreed upon. 119 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,040 And so some of the early church councils, and I don't want to 120 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,360 bore you with church history, but early on in church history 121 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,120 you had these meetings where great theologians and leaders of 122 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,600 the church would gather together in certain cities and they would 123 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,640 discuss certain doctrinal problems and heretical issues 124 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:56,520 and they would come to conclusions. 125 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:00,280 And so one of the most famous ones is the Council of Nicaea 126 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,880 and, and where you get the Nicene Creed. 127 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:08,120 But it took place about the year 325, so it's a long time ago. 128 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,600 And then you have the Council of Constantinople, which took place 129 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,320 in 381. And between the two of those, 130 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,680 they were discussing who Jesus was, and they were also talking 131 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,320 about the relationship of God the Son to God the Father and 132 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,640 this whole idea of the Trinity. And they kind of reach and 133 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,240 settle the formulation of this doctrine. 134 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,080 But not everybody agreed. It's always been quite complex, 135 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,000 but there there are certain creeds and certain statements of 136 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,720 theology, kind of like we have our Baptist faith in message 137 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:38,680 today. There were statements throughout 138 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,760 history like that of some reason, belief statements that 139 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,880 came out of the church. One of those is the Athanasian 140 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,320 Creed. And and this is used by 141 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,960 Christians since about the 6th century. 142 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:55,200 It was the first one that really talked explicitly about the 143 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:56,440 equality. And I'm going to throw a big 144 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,480 word at you all ready, all ready for a big word. 145 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,080 Say Amen or Oh my. So it it it, it talked about the 146 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,680 thank you talked about the equality of the three 147 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,960 hypostasis. Don't worry, I'll explain it of 148 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,560 the Trinity. So there's this weird word, the 149 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,360 hypostasis. It it comes from a couple of 150 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,000 combination of a couple of Greek words and what it means is, is, 151 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,360 is substance or substance or, or subsistence, either one. 152 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,200 And the idea is, is that it refers to personhood. 153 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:32,480 So here are the persons, the hypostasis of the Trinity. 154 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,440 And that word might pop up in some of your reading every now 155 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,360 and then if you read weird books like I do. 156 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,760 But but, but basically, here's what it is there. 157 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:47,920 There's one nature or essence of God, but three hypostasis or 158 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,200 persons. Now listen to here's how it 159 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:51,120 goes. You ready? 160 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,200 The Father is God. No problem, right? 161 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:59,160 We got that. The Father is God, The Son is 162 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:07,480 God, The Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the Son. 163 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,800 The Father is not the Holy Spirit. 164 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:16,240 The Son is not the Holy Spirit. There's exactly 1 God isn't that 165 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,160 isn't that great? Just clears mud, isn't it? 166 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:21,960 Isn't that just clear it all up? We can go home, we can pray, we 167 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,040 can go. So in our language and our 168 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:30,120 practice, we make this worse because then you, maybe you 169 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,560 never do this, but it's pretty common for a lot of us. 170 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:35,760 We kind of think like there's three different things, you 171 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:37,880 know, we, we almost separate them in our thought. 172 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,520 We often separate them in our language, even the way we talk 173 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,160 about them. It's almost like there's three 174 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,160 different gods, right? And so we got to be honest about 175 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,200 that. Like, yet the doctrine of the 176 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,800 Trinity is absolutely necessary. So let's talk about why do we 177 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:53,840 even need this? What? 178 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,960 So what's the big deal about the Trinity? 179 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,960 Why is this a necessary thing to believe in? 180 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:02,720 Right? Well, Wayne Grudem helps us, who 181 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,360 again is a systematic theologian and and I'm just using some of 182 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,080 his summary. First of all, when you think 183 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,400 about the atonement, you, you've got to recognize that if Jesus 184 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:17,600 is merely a created being and not fully God, he couldn't bear 185 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:23,080 the wrath of sin against that, that we had to pay for our sin. 186 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,800 God has to die, but a man also has to die. 187 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,640 And if you don't understand that about salvation, you need to go 188 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,120 back and listen to my Sunday morning message on salvation 189 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,640 sometime because the cross doesn't work unless this is the 190 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,400 God man. And so he has to be both God and 191 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,160 man. And then when you bring in, and 192 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,440 I'm working through Romans right now in my personal quiet time 193 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,240 along with Habakkuk. Anybody read about Habakkuk 194 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,760 lately? Yeah, Habakkuk sometime read. 195 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,520 I was just finished with I'm working through my the minor 196 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:02,080 prophets through Jonah and and Nahum because they were both 197 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,000 kind of talking to the same people. 198 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,080 Now I'm in Habakkuk just because I like saying that out loud. 199 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:13,680 Habakkuk I'm going to go back to Micah is so anyway, interesting 200 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:16,360 worth of the minor prophets. But so when we talk about 201 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,040 justification by faith alone, in other words, I can't I, I, I, 202 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,240 I'm saved by grace through faith. 203 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:29,440 So if Jesus is not fully God, we would doubt whether he can we 204 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:34,440 can really trust him to save us. If Jesus is not fully God, we 205 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,560 shouldn't pray to him. We shouldn't worship him. 206 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:39,640 That would be idolatry. So we have to recognize that 207 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,480 Jesus is God. But then when you bring in the 208 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,200 idea of revelation, not the book, but the idea of how we 209 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,080 understand Scripture and how we understand God, the Holy Spirit 210 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,480 indwells us, the Holy Spirit fills us, and the Holy Spirit 211 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,720 reveals to us, and he has to be God. 212 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,560 So Paul wrote in First Corinthians chapter 2, a passage 213 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:07,040 I've alluded to a lot in the last few months. 214 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:10,800 It says, but as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear 215 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,800 heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared 216 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:19,040 for those who love him. These things God has revealed to 217 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,920 us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches 218 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,120 everything, even the depths of God. 219 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,080 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of 220 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,960 that person which is in him? So, so also no one comprehends 221 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:33,360 the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 222 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,160 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the 223 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,680 Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things 224 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:43,360 freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not 225 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,680 taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, 226 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,360 interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 227 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,320 And I'm going to come back to these ideas, but, but let me 228 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,640 just share several passages about Jesus for a moment. 229 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,640 That that that makes us recognize that he can't be 230 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,600 anything but God. Listen to Hebrews 1/3. 231 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,400 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of 232 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,520 his nature. And he upholds the universe by 233 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,200 the word of this talk about Jesus, not God the Father, but 234 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,760 God the Son, and he upholds the universe by the word of his 235 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,320 power. After making purification for 236 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,640 sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. 237 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,480 But immediately we get confused because here's God up there, and 238 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:28,800 then here's Jesus sitting in the little throne next door. 239 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,520 All right, don't worry, we're going to clear some of this up. 240 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,920 Colossians 29 talking about Jesus. 241 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,960 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. 242 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:47,440 Or John 14-9 Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and 243 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:49,200 you still do not know me? Philip? 244 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,560 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 245 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,240 How can you say show us the Father? 246 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,080 Or John 118 No one has ever seen God. 247 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,360 God, the only who is at the Father's side, He has made him 248 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,120 known. So if Jesus is some kind of 249 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,400 lesser God, and I'm going to talk about again a big word, I'm 250 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,360 going to talk about what's called subordination. 251 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,280 ISM. In other words, a subordinate 252 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,320 God to a higher God. We're going to talk about that 253 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:18,240 later. I'm going to talk about all 254 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,880 these different views. If he's a lesser God, there's no 255 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,880 guarantees. The one who died on the cross is 256 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:29,800 fully God and fully man. So salvation is not just his 257 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,200 idea, it's the plan and work of the whole Godhead. 258 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,800 So let's look at this a little more clearly then. 259 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,520 So does the Bible ever talk about the three of them? 260 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,520 How does it talk about the three of them? 261 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,200 Right. How in the world can I wrap my 262 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,240 head around this thing called the Trinity? 263 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,480 Well, the word Trinity again, it never occurs, but the idea of 264 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:54,000 three and one does. One of the clearest verses is 265 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,040 first John 57, and it just simply begins by saying there 266 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:03,480 are three that testify. And so we recognize that that 267 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,840 there the three exist and that they have roles to play. 268 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,840 And we're going to talk more about those different roles 269 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,040 later. But then we also recognize the 270 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,600 fact that there's one God is also clearly taught in the Old 271 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,360 Testament. So we're we're going back and 272 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,360 forth a little. So we know that Deuteronomy 64, 273 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,120 part of the Shamas says, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the 274 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:29,520 Lord is what one, right? So there's only one Yahweh. 275 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,440 No one else qualifies. Isaiah himself would go on to 276 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,440 talk about in Isaiah 46, Nine, remember the former things of 277 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,320 old, for I am God, and there is no other. 278 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,440 I am God, and there is none like me. 279 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,000 Well, in the New Testament it continues Romans 3. 280 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,480 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles 281 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:58,400 also Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one who will 282 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,640 justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through 283 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,600 faith. Or one of my one of the more 284 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,480 interesting verses I think is James 219. 285 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,040 I'll be in James on Sunday. You'll hear this verse again. 286 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,920 But James 219 says you believe that God is 1. 287 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,360 You do well, but even the demons believe and shudder. 288 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,800 And so we recognize that the monotheistic view, it's easy. 289 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:27,280 That's easy. That would be easy. 290 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,200 That'd be just be easy to hang on to. 291 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,200 Very clear, very easy to grab when you read the Bible. 292 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,040 But the Bible also talks about plurality. 293 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:43,800 Plurality in the Godhead is also seen clearly in Scripture. 294 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,040 So we recognize it's more complex than that. 295 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,960 In the Old Testament we talked about the names of God, you 296 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,280 know, in a different session. Well, you know the basic name 297 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,320 for God, Elohim. I don't know if you know this or 298 00:16:58,320 --> 00:16:59,680 not. It's plural. 299 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:06,640 The word is plural. In other words, even in its own 300 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,359 form, it's it's it's what's called divine or majestic or 301 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:17,119 royal royal, Wow, royal. And I don't say that word royal, 302 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:24,720 that Ozark stuff again, royal. I don't know what the moral 303 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:25,960 royal. I can't do it. 304 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:32,440 Royal royal divine plurality of majesty and royalty is very 305 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,520 common. And so we recognize that in the 306 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,320 Old Testament and some very well known passages, the pronouns are 307 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,280 plural. For example, the creation 308 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,440 stories that way some of you would know that some of you've 309 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,760 probably seen that before in Genesis chapter one verse 26. 310 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:53,280 Then God said let us who's he talking to? 311 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,800 So let us make man in our image. So it's Co creators he's talking 312 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,600 to. So let let us make man in our 313 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,640 image after our likeness. So he's not just talking to 314 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,720 angels, he's not just talking to some other heavenly being. 315 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,320 He's talking to other members of the Godhead. 316 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,320 Let us make man and after our image and let them have dominion 317 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,240 over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens 318 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,960 and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every 319 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:20,760 creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 320 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:23,160 You have dominion over creepy things. 321 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,680 I just wanted you to know that Don't let those creepy things 322 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:32,040 have dominion over you and dominate the creepy or in 323 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:38,440 Genesis chapter 3 then the Lord God said, behold, the man has 324 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:46,200 become like 1 of US knowing good and evil now, lest he reach out 325 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,760 his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live 326 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,240 forever and it continues or in Genesis Chapter 11. 327 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:58,080 Come let us this is the tower of Babel story. 328 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,400 Let us go down and and they're confused their language so that 329 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,360 they may not understand one another's speech. 330 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,600 Again, the prophet Isaiah adds to this in verse in chapter 6. 331 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,560 I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and 332 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,040 who will go for us? I'll be preaching from that 333 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:22,000 passage in a few weeks when we talk about worship. 334 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,000 Then I said, here I am, send me. So who is us both? 335 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,720 The Spirit and the Son are mentioned throughout the Old 336 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,560 Testament as well, so we can't ignore them. 337 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,520 And in the New Testament, I'll come back to some of that. 338 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,520 Let's move on for a moment. In the New Testament, it agrees 339 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,720 that there's only one God, but it also speaks to the plurality 340 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:48,520 of the Godhead. So fought the Father is God. 341 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,400 Let me read several passages. Let let me just show you this in 342 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,560 Matthew 6. Therefore I tell you to not be 343 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,840 anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will 344 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,160 drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 345 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,720 Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 346 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,560 Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor 347 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,800 gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 348 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,200 Are you not of more value than they? 349 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,200 And which of you about being anxious can add a single hour to 350 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,800 a span of life? And why are you anxious about 351 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,480 clothing? Consider the lilies of the 352 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,320 field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. 353 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,840 Yet I tell you, even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed 354 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,080 like one of these. But if God so close the grass of 355 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,880 the field, which today is alive and tomorrow's thrown into the 356 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,800 oven, will He not much more clothe you, or you a little 357 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,920 faith? Therefore do not be anxious 358 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,320 saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what 359 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:41,440 shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all 360 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,560 these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them 361 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,400 all. But seek first the Kingdom of 362 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,080 God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added 363 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,000 to you. Therefore do not be anxious 364 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,400 about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 365 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,240 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 366 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,880 So there's obviously a heavenly Father, God the Father. 367 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:07,520 We even see interaction. Matthew 27, Jesus is on the 368 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:12,040 cross. And about the 9th hour Jesus 369 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,840 cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli Limitsabakhthani 370 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,160 with that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 371 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,480 So we even have this this interesting struggle between the 372 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,360 divinity and humanity, humanity of Jesus. 373 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,240 First Peter chapter 1 according to the foreknowledge of God the 374 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,160 Father and the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to 375 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,120 Jesus Christ. Uh oh, all three of them in one 376 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,040 sentence for the sprinkling with his blood. 377 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,600 So we see the three mentioned, the son is God. 378 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,840 He's mentioned John chapter 5 verse 17. 379 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,440 This is not just a man, He's more he's he's God. 380 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,000 In John 5/17 it says, but Jesus answered to them, My father's 381 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:57,960 working until now and I am working. 382 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,040 In other words, they're the same person. 383 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,680 John chapter 10, my father who has given them to me is greater 384 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,520 than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's 385 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:14,240 hands. I and the Father are one Paul 386 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,840 writes in Philippians chapter 2, who though he was in the form of 387 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,880 God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. 388 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,520 Talking about the incarnation of experience. 389 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,360 And then Colossians one, which is an incredible passage about 390 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,920 Jesus talks about him being the creator. 391 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,280 It says he is the image of the invisible God, the first born of 392 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,880 all creation. Or as I've shared in recent 393 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,800 lessons from John chapter one, in the beginning was the Word 394 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,200 and the Words was with God, and the Word was God. 395 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,640 And as I've shared with you before, in the original 396 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,360 language, there is no was. It's just then the Word God. 397 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,160 So there's no question. John 114 And the Word became 398 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,040 flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glories of the 399 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,560 only begotten, the only Son from the Father, full of grace and 400 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,760 truth. Listen to this in Titus 2. 401 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,440 Maybe some verses you haven't thought of or seen in a while. 402 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,920 Titus 213 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of 403 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,000 the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 404 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,120 I don't know how much clearer you get the the, the glory of 405 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:25,400 our great God and Savior. And and those aren't two 406 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,320 different people in the verse the way it's written in the 407 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,480 original language. It's one person that's being 408 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,480 described. It's the he's God and Savior 409 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,880 Jesus Christ. Jesus is God. 410 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:41,320 Hebrews 18 but of the sun, he says your throne, oh God is 411 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,720 forever and ever. The scepter of a brightness is 412 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:50,320 the scepter of your Kingdom. So the sun is recognized is God, 413 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,480 but the Spirit's also God. This gets even better. 414 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,120 The Spirit's also God in Second Corinthians chapter 3. 415 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,400 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, 416 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,240 there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face 417 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,120 beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the 418 00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:09,040 same image from 1° of glory to another. 419 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,840 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 420 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:18,200 So the Spirit's also the Lord. That term would never be used 421 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,000 for anyone other than curious, would never be used in the New 422 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:28,520 Testament for anyone except God. Acts chapter 28 and disagreeing 423 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,160 among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one 424 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,160 statement, the Holy Spirit was right. 425 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,880 And saying to your Father's through Isaiah the prophet, go 426 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,880 to this people and say, you will indeed hear, but never 427 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,640 understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive. 428 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,400 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears 429 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,440 they can barely hear, and their eyes have they have closed, lest 430 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,840 they shall should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, 431 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,040 and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. 432 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:02,200 So the Holy Spirit is actually the one who Isaiah refers to and 433 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,640 I. And when in the passage in 434 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:09,080 Isaiah that he's quoting here, Isaiah is talking about God. 435 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:15,240 So there's no question they share attributes only God could 436 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,960 have. The three are eternal. 437 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,520 The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons. 438 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:28,160 So these three names given to one God reveal these various 439 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,200 roles that God plays in relation to the world. 440 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,160 But it's still not that simple. That would be too easy and we 441 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,960 could go home. Listen to Matthew chapter 3. 442 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,680 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the 443 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,320 water and behold, the heavens were open to him, and he saw the 444 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,920 Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. 445 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,960 And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, 446 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,320 with whom I am will pleased. So there's a distinction. 447 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,520 There are three. John 1416 And I want, this is 448 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,520 Jesus speaking, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you 449 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:11,320 another helper, which is the Spirit to be with you forever. 450 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,840 John 1426 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 451 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,640 will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring 452 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,800 to remembrance all that I have said to you. 453 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,480 Or John 1526 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you 454 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,320 from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the 455 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,800 Father, He will bear witness about me. 456 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,760 So if, if, if they're not distinct, none of this makes 457 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,680 sense. They're obviously distinct. 458 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,800 So it'd be easy to believe in three, it'd be easy to believe 459 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,240 in one. It'd be easy to believe in 460 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:45,760 three. Now you're starting to 461 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:50,520 understand the complexity. Are you complexed? 462 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,280 We getting there perplexed. It's going to get better. 463 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:01,880 So John chapter 12 says this now is my soul troubled? 464 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,240 And what shall I say, Father save me from this hour. 465 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,520 So we're in the we're in the Garden of Gethsemane ideas right 466 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,080 now, right? But but for this or not quite 467 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,480 but close, but for this purpose, I've come to this hour. 468 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,640 Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. 469 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,400 I have glorified it. I will glorify it again. 470 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,480 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had 471 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,080 thundered. Others said an Angel has spoken 472 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,480 to him and Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, 473 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:33,840 not mine. So it's, it's like what he 474 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:35,640 prayed. It's just a little earlier. 475 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,920 We'll talk more about what he prayed in a minute in the 476 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,960 garden, but you can just see this interaction between son and 477 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,400 father. Matthew 2642. 478 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,440 Again for the second time he went away and prayed. 479 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,360 My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be 480 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:56,600 done. Then we get to John 17. 481 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,840 Deep stuff in John 17 when Jesus had spoken these words, he 482 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,000 lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, 483 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,800 glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have 484 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,520 given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to 485 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,240 all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that 486 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,320 you may, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus 487 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,960 Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having 488 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,240 accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 489 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,000 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory 490 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,680 that I had with you before the world existed. 491 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,920 Don't miss that last phrase. He always was. 492 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,320 The Word just became flesh. It didn't mean the Word didn't 493 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,520 exist before that. Read Colossians 1 and you'll see 494 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,080 that He was. He was there in Genesis. 495 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:59,800 Yet the Father, Son and Spirit are also one in John 17, same 496 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:06,080 chapter verse 21. And they may all be one, just as 497 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,640 you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in 498 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,240 US, so that the world may believe that You have sent me 499 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:15,960 the glory that you have given me. 500 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:21,560 I have given to them that they may be 1 even as we are one, I 501 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,440 and them and you and me, that they may become perfectly 1 so 502 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,560 that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as 503 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,080 you loved me. Or very simply, back in John 10 504 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:37,560 verse 30, I and the Father are one again. 505 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,360 John 14, nine. And Jesus said to them, Have I 506 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,680 been with you so long and you still do not know me? 507 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,040 Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 508 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,160 How can you say, show us the Father? 509 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,840 Or again in Romans 8, just to remind you. 510 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,120 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in 511 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,000 fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. 512 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,040 Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong 513 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,640 to him. And don't miss that. 514 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:02,800 That's an important doctrinal statement. 515 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,280 That means that when you're saved, you get the Holy Spirit. 516 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,080 You don't need to wait on the Holy Spirit for something second 517 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:10,680 blessing. You don't need something else to 518 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,720 happen. You get the Holy Spirit to the 519 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,920 moment of salvation or you are not saved. 520 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,320 You don't belong to Jesus if that's not true, but if Christ 521 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,880 is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit 522 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,640 of life, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 523 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,640 And, and a passage that I don't know if you even think about 524 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,080 when we talk about this subject, but it's a passage that you talk 525 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:34,320 about a lot. It's a passage you think about a 526 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:35,920 lot. Think about the Great Commission 527 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,080 in Matthew 28. Go therefore, and make disciples 528 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,240 of all nations, baptizing them in the name of who, the Father, 529 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,840 and and why. Why would you baptize them in 530 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:55,120 the name of all three? Because all three are equal. 531 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,400 All three are God. Paul writes again to the 532 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,720 Corinthian church in 2nd Corinthians 1314. 533 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,280 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and 534 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,560 the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 535 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,600 Here they are all together in John 16. 536 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,120 When the spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all 537 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,440 truth. For He will, He will not speak 538 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,760 on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will 539 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,400 speak, and He will declare so to you. 540 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,640 The things that are to come, He will glorify Me, for He will 541 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,680 take what is mine and declare it to you. 542 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,920 And all that the Father has is mine. 543 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:36,560 Therefore, I said that He will take what is mine and declare it 544 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,440 to you. So, So listen, there's not a 545 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,320 clear explanation. I mean, I wish there was a 546 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,640 single verse that just said this is the way the whole thing 547 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,040 works. But there's not a clear 548 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,560 explanation in Scripture as to how there can only be one God 549 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,440 and yet Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 550 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:57,960 But there are some things, some principles, some truth that we 551 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,120 can understand and we can summarize. 552 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,640 And it's simply this, that number one, God is 3 persons. 553 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,040 It's obvious in Scripture that this is true. 554 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,840 They're distinct. This is often easier when you 555 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,640 think about the Son and the Father because of the 556 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,480 interaction they have in the Gospels. 557 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,160 Some struggle, I think at times with the Holy Spirit being a 558 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,280 distinct person. They just see that as the Spirit 559 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,880 of God and nothing else. It's just his spirit working, 560 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,640 not a separate person. But that's not the way it really 561 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,960 works. Acts 1038 says how God anointed 562 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,720 Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. 563 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,400 He went about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by 564 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:40,280 the devil, for God was with him. So, so the Holy Spirit is God. 565 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,320 And secondly, each of these is fully God. 566 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,560 One of the most dramatic statements ever in the Gospels 567 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,000 that probably gets overlooked a lot is after the resurrection 568 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,440 when Thomas is doubting, you know, he missed out on some of 569 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,200 the early, early reveals. And and so he's doubting whether 570 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,480 or not Jesus really was resurrected or not. 571 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,960 You know, doubting Thomas, therefore, right And so Jesus 572 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:06,080 appears so that he can he can prove, you know, touch my hands, 573 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:08,840 see that, see my side, I'm real, you can touch me. 574 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,800 I'm right here. And and Thomas's answer in John 575 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,160 2828 is simply this Jesus answered him. 576 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:23,720 Anybody remember the quote My Lord and my God again in the 577 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:28,600 book of Acts and Acts 5 in that hard story about Ananias and 578 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,840 Sapphira, you should all give the right way. 579 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,680 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie 580 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,440 to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the 581 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,480 proceeds of the land? What remained unsold? 582 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,920 Did it not remain your own? And after it was so, was it not 583 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:46,680 at your disposal? Why is it that you have 584 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,680 contrived this deed in your heart? 585 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:56,040 You have not lied to man, but to God, Holy Spirit, God. 586 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,320 But we still also recognize there's only one God. 587 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,040 So. So let me walk through and I'm 588 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:10,360 going to try to make this not any heavier than it is because 589 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,199 it's pretty heavy. Let me give you a couple 590 00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:16,280 summaries. There's a book in my office by 591 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,199 John Feinberg called No One Like Him. 592 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,080 Now, if you have trouble sleeping at night, it's a 593 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,480 fantastic book. But this book is easily 3 to 4 594 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:32,400 inches thick simply on the doctrine of God. 595 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:38,040 OK, by a deep theologian. I'm going to try to summarize a 596 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,480 few things that Feinberg says for our time. 597 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,440 Again, there's only one God. First number one, there's only 598 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,560 one God. There is only one divine essence 599 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:54,520 or nature. Secondly, the one divine essence 600 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,560 is distributed or manifested in three distinct persons, but they 601 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:04,200 are all God #3 the three persons. 602 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,680 Co inhering. Don't let that word throw you. 603 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,080 It just means existing together simultaneously. 604 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,920 That's very important. In other words, the Father, the 605 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,680 Son, and the Holy Spirit all coexist at the same time. 606 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,240 That's important because there's a heresy I'll tell you about in 607 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:25,800 a minute that that will be against that the three persons 608 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:30,200 cohering or existing together simultaneously in the one divine 609 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,920 nature exists simultaneously with one another as distinct 610 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:38,280 substances or persons. So in other words, the divine 611 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:44,400 nature, the Godhead, is not at one time entirely manifested as 612 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,400 the Father, and then at another moment in time he's exclusively 613 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,960 the Son, and then in a moment at a different time, then he 614 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,720 becomes the Spirit. They all three exist 615 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,800 simultaneously, and that's an important part of the 616 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:03,960 Trinitarian doctrine. So there's a wrong teaching. 617 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,080 And some of you may actually believe this and not know it 618 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,040 because there's certain things that just kind of make sense to 619 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:14,040 the human brain. And we try to wrestle with this, 620 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:18,520 but there's a there's a, a heresy called modalism. 621 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,560 Modalism was an early church heresy. 622 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,800 And frankly, it's still around today. 623 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,200 It's called different things today, but but the heresy has 624 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:29,760 been around since about the 3rd century. 625 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,200 It's an old heresy. Most of the things that will 626 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:34,840 come out today, some cool new movie that's going to tell you 627 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,600 who Jesus really was or who he was married to or you know, who 628 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:41,840 who he had an affair with or who what God really is. 629 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,800 You need to understand that most of this stuff is not new at all. 630 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:51,720 They're repeating old heresies and old teachings, taking, 631 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,760 taking old writings that were never considered scriptural and 632 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:59,920 pulling things out. But this is actually proposed a 633 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:03,200 long time ago and it basically says this God exists as one 634 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,960 person who shifts between three faces. 635 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,280 So I'm at a different mode. This is that same thing. 636 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,560 So one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy 637 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,720 Spirit. So I, I switch back and forth. 638 00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:19,160 I'm in a different mode. Right now I'm the Father. 639 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:21,200 Right now I'm the son, right now I'm the Spirit. 640 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:26,360 It's called modalism. So Christians believe that God 641 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:31,000 is 3 separate eternal persons with unique roles. 642 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:32,560 We're going to talk more about that. 643 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,280 That's the easiest way to do this. 644 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,360 It's not even complete that it's the easiest way to do it. 645 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,200 We believe God is 3 separate eternal persons with different 646 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:46,040 roles, unique roles. Modalists believe God is 1 647 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:48,520 entity who changes modes as he sees fit. 648 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,760 So he was God the Father in the Old Testament, He shifted into 649 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,680 God the Son in the New Testament, now he operates as 650 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,800 the Holy Spirit. And that heresy has been around 651 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,400 for a long time. And so it logically follows that 652 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,640 that no divine mode is eternal or distinct. 653 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:13,080 Feinberg goes on. From the preceding points that 654 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,480 we've talked about, we can also say that Father, Son and Holy 655 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,000 Spirit are equal. Now here's a good word for you. 656 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,400 You know, I talked about this a couple weeks ago and a couple 657 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,320 lessons ago. The Father, the Son and the Holy 658 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,720 Spirit are equal ontologically. Don't let that word scare you. 659 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:33,160 Basically it means this. They share the divine essence 660 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:38,040 and they are Co equally God in being and nature. 661 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,280 So they are all God each as is. And here just think of it this 662 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,000 way. Each of them is as fully God as 663 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,000 the next one. All right. 664 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,520 So there are no subordinate gods. 665 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,760 There's not a superior God and a lesser God. 666 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,720 That's not how this works. This is not Roman or Greek 667 00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:58,800 mythology with Zeus sitting on the throne. 668 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:04,520 All right, So subordinationism, which is how you call that, is a 669 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,960 heresy that says that Christ and the Holy Spirit are subordinate 670 00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:13,200 to the Father in both relationship and substance. 671 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,120 And and although this view kind of upholds the Trinity, at least 672 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,800 they believe in the Trinity, it denies equal Godhead for all the 673 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,320 persons within the Trinity. Right. 674 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:33,040 Let me give you at least one more docetism DOCE you should 675 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,240 have that somewhere. Is the heresy that that Jesus 676 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:41,920 gave the illusion of human form but was actually a fully defined 677 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,560 phantom like being. He was a ghost, so he's fully 678 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:49,840 God, but he was never fully man. He just appeared like a man. 679 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:53,400 He was a magic trick, but he wasn't really human. 680 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,200 And that's a problem because there are many problems with 681 00:39:58,200 --> 00:39:59,680 this. The primary issue is that it 682 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:01,760 invalidates Christ's death and resurrection. 683 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,280 Without a physical body, he could not have saved the world 684 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,800 from sin and and given his grace. 685 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,680 And so this heresy contradicts scripture. 686 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,560 You also kind of a version of this is what's called 687 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:18,360 adoptionism, which is the belief that God the Father listen to 688 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,920 this one. God the Father adopted Jesus to 689 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,840 be his son. When he saw that this human man 690 00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:30,400 named Jesus had a sinless life, all these made their rounds. 691 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,280 You could probably go to an airport bookstore and still buy 692 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:37,480 them. In short, God made Christ a 693 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,960 deity later on. And so it claims that Jesus 694 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,040 achieved godhood and melt most of them actually, which I don't 695 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,880 know how they do this one, but that most of those who believe 696 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,640 this, that somehow after passing the devil's temptation in the 697 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:52,960 wilderness, suddenly Jesus gets to be God, right? 698 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:56,640 But Scripture refutes all these things. 699 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,800 So Feinberg gives a fifth point. Here we go. 700 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:07,760 There is a distinction, and I'll explain it, between the 701 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,160 ontological or eminent Trinity on the one hand and the economic 702 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,640 Trinity on the other. Now, if you didn't understand 703 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,440 that sentence, raise your hand. Come on, everybody, raise your 704 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:20,840 hand. Nobody in here understood that 705 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:24,560 sentence. First time I read that sentence, 706 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:26,200 I went back and reread that sentence. 707 00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:29,520 Then I needed to read the 14 paragraphs after that sentence 708 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:34,160 to understand the sentence. Welcome to the academic world. 709 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:40,200 Let me make it non academic. So the ontological or imminent 710 00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,320 Trinity simply refers to God himself and it concerns the 711 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,920 internal relationship the members of the Godhead have with 712 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:49,760 one another. Which is a great question that I 713 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,320 was asked one day and I'm going to get to the specific answers 714 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,120 about those specific passages in a minute. 715 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,840 So the economic Trinity, don't let these descriptions worry 716 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:01,880 you. That deals with the self 717 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:05,000 disclosure of the Godhead and the members work in the world. 718 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,080 So in other words, how does one of them work in the world? 719 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,160 And they don't want us how they relate to one another. 720 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:11,160 OK, that that's that's is that good enough? 721 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:13,000 How do they relate to one another? 722 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:15,440 That's the first category. And then how are they working in 723 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:17,040 the world? That's the second category. 724 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,680 OK, so his big words don't let him throw you. 725 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:25,360 So while each member of the Trinity is active in, in, in 726 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,440 each divine action, Scripture, frequently this is part of the 727 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:34,080 confusion, associates a given activity with one member of the 728 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,720 Godhead more than the others. So sometimes you feel like the 729 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:41,920 Holy Spirit's doing more right here, or the Son did this part 730 00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,320 and the Father does that part. So there's these different 731 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,880 roles, these unique roles that the different members of the 732 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:52,880 Godhead are performing. And so, and then you also sense 733 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:57,600 in certain passages, this is the economic part of it, that that 734 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:02,320 certain members are functionally subordinate to other persons in 735 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,720 the Godhead. In other words, there are times 736 00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:08,240 that you see the Son submitting to the Father, right? 737 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:13,000 And so it makes him appear that he's lesser, but that's not 738 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,960 really the case. These are just different roles. 739 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,080 So the Persons of the Trinity have these different primary 740 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:22,720 functions in relating to the world. 741 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:25,320 Now, that may be as important as anything else I've said the 742 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:26,760 whole time. Maybe you don't worry about 743 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,720 anything else I've said too much except the scripture I've read, 744 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:34,400 and that the Persons of the Trinity have different primary 745 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,760 functions in the way they're relating to the creation. 746 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,880 And the problem we have sometimes is that we're locked 747 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:43,520 in the creation. So that's all we see. 748 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:45,800 That's all we're really paying attention to. 749 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,720 But you got to understand they exist beyond the creation, and 750 00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:51,280 the way they're relating to them outside of us is totally 751 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:58,080 different. But here the perfect plan was is 752 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:01,280 that I'm going to do this, you do this, and you do this. 753 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:04,680 Now we're all part of it. We're all supporting one 754 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:07,160 another. We're all still one, but we're 755 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:08,680 going to have the primary functions. 756 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,680 But as Feinberg would say, that does not indicate, and he's 757 00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:15,960 going to use the word ontological again, all that 758 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,440 means is an essence. That doesn't mean that there's 759 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:21,400 some essence of inferiority among the three. 760 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,600 That doesn't mean that the son is inferior to the father or the 761 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,600 spirit is inferior to the son. Let me give you an example, an 762 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:34,880 incredible question one day out in the what I call the larynx. 763 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,600 What do you all call that place at the the narthex, the larynx 764 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:39,920 out there. That's the lobby. 765 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:43,000 Everybody say lobby. Thank you very much. 766 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,200 Appreciate that from Oklahoma. That other word was throwing me 767 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,000 off. If you don't know it or not, 768 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,760 Narthex is a is a word for a portion of a medieval Catholic 769 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:55,600 cathedral. But anyway, so there you go. 770 00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:57,920 The Latin word. It's a lobby. 771 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:02,240 Thank you very much. So one day out in the larynx, 772 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:03,880 I've got to ask this great question. 773 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,120 I mean, it was a powerful, correct question. 774 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:09,720 He's looking right at me. I'm not going to embarrass him 775 00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:11,600 anymore. But it was a really good 776 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,200 question. And I was in the middle of a 777 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:16,360 conversation with somebody else to the point of I didn't even 778 00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:19,160 know where I was. But it's a great question. 779 00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:21,920 So listen to this one. This is about the knowledge of 780 00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,640 the second coming. We talked about this a while 781 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,680 back. You'll know this passage, 782 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:32,280 Matthew 2436. But concerning the day and hour, 783 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:39,160 what no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, 784 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:46,200 but the Father only. Or in Mark's gospel, Mark 1332. 785 00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:50,840 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the 786 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,080 angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 787 00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:58,200 It's an interesting verse. So how can they be 1? 788 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,840 How can the Son not know something that the father knows? 789 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,800 It's perplexing, ain't it? Yeah. 790 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,280 It's a good question for the larynx. 791 00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:12,760 So. So I just let me, let me start 792 00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:16,280 off by quoting a couple of scholars, one of them that you 793 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:19,080 love dearly, and one of them you may or may not, I don't know. 794 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:21,600 You love Danny Eakin, don't you say? 795 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:22,520 Amen. Yeah. 796 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:24,880 So let me quote Danny Eakin. Danny Eakin has done a 797 00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,640 tremendous amount of work in theology and especially the 798 00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:30,440 study of Christ. And so I went to one of his 799 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,280 commentaries because I knew he would have something that would 800 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:35,440 be helpful and we could understand it. 801 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:37,200 So let me read what he has to say. 802 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:40,560 First. He says Danny Akin says it is 803 00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:44,040 that phrase not nor the sun that gives us pause. 804 00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:48,760 As orthodox Bible believing Christians, we affirm the full 805 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,600 and undiminished deity of God the Son. 806 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,360 As God, He possesses all the attributes of deity, including 807 00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,000 omniscience. Yet here He clearly states 808 00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:02,880 there's a body of knowledge of which He is there. 809 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:07,320 I say ignorant the day and hour of his own second coming. 810 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:13,680 This statement makes no sense apart from the incarnation. 811 00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:18,120 He says in taking on a human nature and entering into the 812 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:22,560 time space reality. The Son of God did not surrender 813 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,760 His deity, but He did lay aside His glory. 814 00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:28,760 You can see John 17. You can also this passage in 815 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,960 Philippians 2 where you do not consider equality with God a 816 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:34,440 thing to be grasped. I think it's all part of that 817 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:38,480 formula. In doing so, our Lord for a time 818 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:42,800 relinquished the free exercise of His divine attributes such as 819 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:46,120 omniscience. In the mystery and beauty of the 820 00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:49,320 Incarnation. The all knowing Sovereign Son 821 00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:54,160 could temporarily lay aside or suspend the free exercise of His 822 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:58,240 God attributes so that he might live an authentic human life in 823 00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:02,120 submission to His Father and in dependence on the Holy Spirit. 824 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:06,560 This also explains why our Lord could be hungry, experience 825 00:48:06,560 --> 00:48:09,680 thirst, grow tired and be killed. 826 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:14,000 And here lies another indictment for those caught up in prophetic 827 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:18,320 speculation and date setting. No one knows but God. 828 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:24,600 Now let me add to that David Platt who wrote a commentary on 829 00:48:24,600 --> 00:48:27,560 one of these books and addresses it this way. 830 00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:33,440 Here we see the genuine humanity of Christ, for he humbly chose 831 00:48:33,440 --> 00:48:37,280 to take on the limitations of knowledge that other men have, 832 00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:41,160 though he himself simultaneously remained omniscient and fully 833 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:44,200 divine. Jesus's statement is a reminder 834 00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:48,080 that no man, regardless of what he claims, knows the timing of 835 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,160 the Second coming. So, and and I don't disagree 836 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:54,640 with them. I this, this has to do. 837 00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:57,720 It must have to do. The only explanation is that it 838 00:48:57,720 --> 00:48:59,920 has to do with Philippians chapter 2. 839 00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:02,120 It has to do with the incarnation. 840 00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:07,240 It has to do with the fact that when Christ came, this is what 841 00:49:07,240 --> 00:49:12,360 it means, or partially what it means when He when he laid aside 842 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:15,040 certain things. So in Philippians chapter 2 843 00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:20,040 we're reminded of this So if there's any encouragement in 844 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:23,320 Christ, any comfort from love and this is starting in verse 845 00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:25,440 one. Any participation in the spirit, 846 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:29,120 any affection and sympathy complete my joy for being by 847 00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:32,600 being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full 848 00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:36,560 accord and of one mind do nothing from selfish ambition or 849 00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:39,920 conceit, but in humility count others more significant than 850 00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:43,160 yourselves that each of you look not only to your own interests 851 00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:45,080 but also to the interests of others. 852 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:48,920 Now the reason I'm reading these first parts about humility is 853 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:52,280 because Jesus then becomes the greatest example of that by 854 00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,280 doing what he's doing in the incarnation. 855 00:49:55,880 --> 00:50:03,280 It says this in verse verse where am I5 have this mind among 856 00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:06,560 yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was 857 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,840 in the form of God, did not count equality with a God, with 858 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:15,080 God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the 859 00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:18,320 form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of 860 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:22,320 men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by 861 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:26,160 becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 862 00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,920 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name 863 00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:32,960 that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every 864 00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,320 knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and 865 00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:41,480 every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God 866 00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,640 the Father. And so there, there's no other 867 00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,200 other explanation that I could come up with other than what 868 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,680 these brilliant men have said, that there are these mysteries. 869 00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:54,920 And it is indeed a mystery. And it's interesting that we try 870 00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:58,480 to figure out all the mysteries and sometimes they're beyond us. 871 00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:00,000 In fact, let me go on for a moment. 872 00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:04,800 So all the although the Bible uses a lot of analogies to teach 873 00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:07,720 various aspects of God's character, and we try to review 874 00:51:07,720 --> 00:51:09,160 some of those in the last session. 875 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:11,560 We'll talk about a few more of those in a few weeks. 876 00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:15,280 But it's interesting that Scripture nowhere tries to use 877 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,720 an analogy to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. 878 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,160 We do that. God never did that. 879 00:51:22,720 --> 00:51:26,760 The Bible doesn't ever do that. The closest is this simply the 880 00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:30,800 titles themselves of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 881 00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:34,320 It's interesting because Tertullian, who was a very early 882 00:51:34,320 --> 00:51:38,400 theologian who frankly struggled with the Trinity, he didn't like 883 00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:42,080 the Trinity, was right in affirming that. 884 00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:44,440 Listen to this. The doctrine of the Trinity must 885 00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:47,480 be divinely revealed and not humanly constructed. 886 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:53,120 And then Erickson, who wrote a huge systematic theology, I just 887 00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:54,920 find this a very helpful statement. 888 00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:58,240 It is. So the Trinity is so absurd from 889 00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:01,640 the human standpoint that no one would have invented it. 890 00:52:02,480 --> 00:52:05,040 And, and to me, that's these mysteries. 891 00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:09,600 This is actually a testimony to the trustworthiness of the 892 00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:14,200 Bible, the very fact that this is not a neatly wrapped gift at 893 00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:17,480 times, that there are things here that we have a hard time 894 00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:20,320 understanding. There are things here that that 895 00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:23,920 are mysterious, that are paradoxes that are beyond our 896 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:27,280 human understanding. If you were writing a human book 897 00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:31,240 as a human story, you'd wrap it up to where you didn't have any 898 00:52:31,240 --> 00:52:34,160 perplexities like this. But but this is actually the 899 00:52:34,160 --> 00:52:37,400 Trinity, I think is actually a testimony to the authority and 900 00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:39,720 this the inspiration of Scripture. 901 00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:43,360 So we hold it because God has revealed that that is what he's 902 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:46,760 like, period. Whether you like it, believe it 903 00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:49,960 or not, this is the way He is and this is the way it's 904 00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:53,640 presented. As someone has said, try to 905 00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:58,520 explain it, you'll lose your mind, but try to deny it and 906 00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:03,200 you'll lose your soul. So the easiest way, and it 907 00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:09,680 doesn't cover it, but God is 1 to the third, the third degree, 908 00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:14,400 he's 1 * 1 * 1, which equals what? 909 00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:22,120 Yeah, even math testifies he's not 1 + 1 + 1, which equals 910 00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:25,480 tritheism. And so even though we struggle 911 00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:30,640 with this idea, and I get that we should, this idea that that 912 00:53:30,640 --> 00:53:34,160 God is 1 and yet God is also three. 913 00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:38,400 And for me, the, the easiest way or the way I most frequently 914 00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:41,400 have to think about it, are the unique roles that the various 915 00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:44,560 parts, the various persons, excuse me, of the Godhead play 916 00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:46,680 in creation. Because that's all I see. 917 00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:49,560 Because I'm I'm stuck in here. I'm stuck in the fishbowl. 918 00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:54,000 I'm here in the, in the, in, in the, in the tank, so to speak. 919 00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:56,360 So my only perspective is creation. 920 00:53:56,480 --> 00:54:02,520 I am going to be absolutely fascinated when I die to see 921 00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:06,320 what it looks like, to see what we see. 922 00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:08,600 I've heard all kinds of things. We'll only see Jesus. 923 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,200 I've also said, you know, because God is spirit that they 924 00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:13,480 are. Or we'll see all three or we're 925 00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:17,000 only going to see one. It's a, it's an amazing thought 926 00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:22,560 and it is frankly beyond our imagination to some degree. 927 00:54:23,240 --> 00:54:25,680 And so, but it's something to look forward to. 928 00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:31,040 In the meantime, though, we have work to do and we have people to 929 00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:34,880 tell this to and to talk about. And so it's a very important 930 00:54:34,880 --> 00:54:38,000 doctrine because if we don't recognize the deity of all 931 00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:43,760 three, then we we actually will, we will sabotage salvation. 932 00:54:44,640 --> 00:54:49,240 Jesus has to die as a perfect sacrifice. 933 00:54:49,560 --> 00:54:52,680 And the only one who could do that was the ultimate God man. 934 00:54:53,240 --> 00:54:58,120 And so he needs to be the perfect Passover lamb to die in 935 00:54:58,120 --> 00:55:00,280 that way. And so I'm so thankful for this 936 00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:04,960 in the way that he works. And so one of the things that I, 937 00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:08,360 I want us to always think about as we move forward in this study 938 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:13,640 is to reflect upon not only does God exist, but how he exists and 939 00:55:13,640 --> 00:55:17,160 how he is working in the world. And so when, when? 940 00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:21,600 Let me go switch my hat for just a second and then I'll let you 941 00:55:21,600 --> 00:55:23,840 go. But when we actually talk about 942 00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:28,720 this out there, I don't generally. 943 00:55:28,720 --> 00:55:31,560 I mean, sometimes people say, well, explain the Trinity to me 944 00:55:31,720 --> 00:55:33,600 and I'll look back up and says, well, I can't. 945 00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:37,560 But anyway. But but what I will do is I'm 946 00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:42,160 going to explain how God has performed unique works in my 947 00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:45,240 life in these three different persons, right? 948 00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,120 Because honestly, be honest with you and I this, this really 949 00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:50,720 frustrates apologetic people because they want perfect 950 00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:53,760 answers to everything. Let me remind you about 951 00:55:53,760 --> 00:55:57,680 apologetics. I've said this to you 67822 952 00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:03,840 times. It's not necessarily my job to 953 00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:07,800 convince you of something. That's the Holy Spirit's job. 954 00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:12,520 It's not my job to even understand completely everything 955 00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:15,080 you believe, although I would if I know you and I'm in 956 00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,120 relationship with you, I certainly want to be sensitive 957 00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:19,240 to that. If I have a next door neighbor 958 00:56:19,240 --> 00:56:22,600 who's a Buddhist, I I want to do all I can to understand Buddhism 959 00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:25,280 so I can figure out common bridges to talk about things 960 00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:28,680 with a Buddhist. But I better know what I 961 00:56:28,680 --> 00:56:35,760 believe. And this week as I'm meeting day 962 00:56:35,760 --> 00:56:39,240 by day with these, with a group of people who are a lot smarter 963 00:56:39,240 --> 00:56:42,640 than I am, frankly, and a lot more experience than doing 964 00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:46,320 things that I will never do in their executive level leadership 965 00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:50,280 roles. It's just humbling to facilitate 966 00:56:51,200 --> 00:56:53,600 these kinds of seminars. And I've had the privilege of 967 00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,640 doing this all around the world with these kinds of leaders. 968 00:56:56,520 --> 00:56:59,040 But one of the things I watched from them and I learned from 969 00:56:59,040 --> 00:57:04,280 them is the fact that that they're absolutely dependent 970 00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:07,360 upon the way God is working in their life. 971 00:57:07,720 --> 00:57:10,400 And they can articulate this. This is how God the Father 972 00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:12,120 works. And this is how the Holy Spirit 973 00:57:12,120 --> 00:57:13,640 works. And this is how God the Son 974 00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:16,600 works. And so when we're out there 975 00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:19,680 talking to somebody, they all, I'm telling you, if I heard it 976 00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:23,840 once, we, this was a, a seminar on the, on organizational 977 00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:25,920 leadership. That'll sound boring, but it was 978 00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:28,040 how do you develop an organizational culture and 979 00:57:28,040 --> 00:57:30,080 design? How do you actually develop 980 00:57:30,080 --> 00:57:32,440 strategy and vision for that? Right. 981 00:57:32,480 --> 00:57:35,960 So we're working through various exercises and now I have to help 982 00:57:35,960 --> 00:57:38,720 them with papers and dissertation work for the next 983 00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:41,480 day. But anyway, so, but, but one of 984 00:57:41,480 --> 00:57:45,120 the things they kept saying over and over and over again 985 00:57:45,120 --> 00:57:48,120 throughout this entire experience is, is that stories 986 00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:52,760 communicate. And, and when we get into 987 00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:56,480 personal evangelism later, part of what I want you to really 988 00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:01,920 embrace is the fact that I, I may not ever, ever use the word 989 00:58:01,920 --> 00:58:07,520 ontological again, right? I, I may never use the 2 words 990 00:58:07,520 --> 00:58:15,960 economic Trinity or, or eminent Trinity ever in my life, but I 991 00:58:15,960 --> 00:58:19,120 sure better be able to tell stories about how that works in 992 00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:22,880 my life, right? How does God the Father work in 993 00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:25,640 my life? How does God the Son work in my 994 00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:27,640 life? And how does the Holy Spirit 995 00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:30,520 work in my life? And those stories communicate 996 00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:35,520 this culture is story driven and they need to hear your story. 997 00:58:36,120 --> 00:58:39,360 So, so don't worry about whether you have everything memorized 998 00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:41,240 perfectly. That's that's not it. 999 00:58:41,560 --> 00:58:46,120 Be you, be authentic, be real and share real stories with this 1000 00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:49,000 world out there. That's what they need to hear. 1001 00:58:49,840 --> 00:58:54,200 Listen, I remember one time I was in the middle of a Central 1002 00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:59,680 American jungle and, and bless their hearts, they built a 1003 00:58:59,680 --> 00:59:02,920 platform in the middle of this jungle and invited everybody who 1004 00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:04,600 lived in the jungle. And it's like, I don't know 1005 00:59:04,600 --> 00:59:07,880 where you people are living, but they came out of the jungle and 1006 00:59:07,880 --> 00:59:10,800 they're like, I mean, hundreds of people suddenly gathered in 1007 00:59:10,800 --> 00:59:13,440 front of this wooden platform. So I'm standing up on this 1008 00:59:13,440 --> 00:59:15,840 wooden platform. And one of them, in their 1009 00:59:15,840 --> 00:59:17,480 brilliance, decided to bring a light. 1010 00:59:18,160 --> 00:59:21,480 Now, you got to understand that the people in Central America, 1011 00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:24,720 where I was, the average height was probably about 5 foot 6. 1012 00:59:25,680 --> 00:59:31,360 I am not 5 foot 6. So that light literally I felt 1013 00:59:31,360 --> 00:59:35,880 like was resting on my head. So think of a bare light bulb 1014 00:59:36,400 --> 00:59:41,680 with a an aluminum reflector thing as a skullcap. 1015 00:59:41,720 --> 00:59:42,800 I mean, that's really how I felt. 1016 00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:50,120 All right, so every known flying insect in the Central American 1017 00:59:50,120 --> 00:59:55,240 jungle was coming at me. I mean, things that I've only 1018 00:59:55,240 --> 00:59:57,560 I've had nightmare. I mean, I'm telling you, if 1019 00:59:57,560 --> 01:00:00,480 you've ever seen the original Wizard of Oz and it scared you 1020 01:00:00,480 --> 01:00:03,360 when those flying stinking monkeys come out, that's what I 1021 01:00:03,400 --> 01:00:10,520 that's what it was like. I mean, giant things that so 1022 01:00:10,520 --> 01:00:19,120 you're preaching. Sorry, Phil. 1023 01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:29,440 And, and I, I tell you, the only thing in my mind was how can I 1024 01:00:29,440 --> 01:00:32,600 get off this wooden platform? But I had hundreds of people 1025 01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:34,400 there. They wanted to hear the gospel. 1026 01:00:34,920 --> 01:00:38,560 So with with I'm no exaggeration, I share the most 1027 01:00:38,560 --> 01:00:43,280 simple testimonial story about what God was doing in my life. 1028 01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:46,160 And I threw in John 316. I mean, that was it. 1029 01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:50,040 I mean, you all would never be satisfied on a Sunday morning 1030 01:00:50,040 --> 01:00:54,600 with what I did. And I, and I mean, I, I, I, you 1031 01:00:54,600 --> 01:00:56,760 know, I just sitting there going, I don't know what to do, 1032 01:00:56,760 --> 01:01:02,160 but you know, I'm just, let's just for God so loved the world 1033 01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:08,080 that he gave us only begotten Son. 1034 01:01:14,800 --> 01:01:17,120 I'm not joking. It was that bad. 1035 01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:20,400 And the people are all standing there and there's translators 1036 01:01:20,400 --> 01:01:23,960 and they keep looking back at me and they're translated is like 1037 01:01:23,960 --> 01:01:25,760 Nehemiah chapter 8. They're all out in the crowd 1038 01:01:25,760 --> 01:01:29,840 translating and Spanish and Indian dialects. 1039 01:01:31,160 --> 01:01:32,960 And I'm done. And I'm saying all I did was 1040 01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:34,560 just basically this, how God worked my life. 1041 01:01:34,600 --> 01:01:37,440 I mean, that's it. That's what I shared from my 1042 01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:42,120 heart the best way I could. I was sincere, I was authentic. 1043 01:01:42,440 --> 01:01:48,320 I was desperate. And when I was done, I also kind 1044 01:01:48,320 --> 01:01:50,600 of felt bad. I mean, a really, man, I did a 1045 01:01:50,600 --> 01:01:53,000 lousy job, Teresa, I'll tell you, I beat myself up all the 1046 01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:54,680 time like this. I did a badge. 1047 01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:56,160 I didn't do as good as I should have. 1048 01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:58,120 I messed that up. There's no, you know, no way in 1049 01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:00,440 the world. And I'm kind of like, woe is me 1050 01:02:00,440 --> 01:02:01,680 and, you know, because I'm an idiot. 1051 01:02:01,680 --> 01:02:04,280 And so I'm sitting there, you know, last one. 1052 01:02:07,880 --> 01:02:16,840 And we gave an invitation, hundreds of people, because you 1053 01:02:16,840 --> 01:02:20,440 know what, it has so little to do with me. 1054 01:02:22,480 --> 01:02:27,720 But when people hear an authentic, real story about how 1055 01:02:27,720 --> 01:02:31,080 God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit has 1056 01:02:31,080 --> 01:02:35,960 impacted some life like mine, that's the gospel. 1057 01:02:38,680 --> 01:02:40,800 You add God's word, it's powerful. 1058 01:02:42,080 --> 01:02:44,520 We spent hours counselling with people. 1059 01:02:45,320 --> 01:02:50,240 Hours they started a church in that jungle after that night. 1060 01:02:52,080 --> 01:02:56,800 So you may not understand every word, you may not understand the 1061 01:02:56,800 --> 01:03:01,800 Trinity anymore now than you did, but I pray that you cherish 1062 01:03:01,800 --> 01:03:05,480 it. I pray you cherish him, and I 1063 01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:09,480 pray you'll just tell everybody about what he's done for you. 1064 01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:14,880 Let's pray together. Father, I thank you so much for 1065 01:03:14,880 --> 01:03:20,360 your love and your grace. Father, I'm sorry if we 1066 01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:24,080 complicate things. I'm sorry sometimes if we try to 1067 01:03:24,080 --> 01:03:26,520 overthink or figure things out that frankly, we're just not 1068 01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:29,400 supposed to. Father, I'm pretty convinced 1069 01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:31,120 we're not supposed to have all the answers. 1070 01:03:31,960 --> 01:03:34,280 I think, Father, if we had all the answers, we wouldn't think 1071 01:03:34,280 --> 01:03:40,520 we need you as much. So, Father, help us to help us 1072 01:03:40,520 --> 01:03:44,200 to trust in you and to believe in you, maybe more than we try 1073 01:03:44,200 --> 01:03:48,960 to figure you out. But Father, we also thank you 1074 01:03:48,960 --> 01:03:51,880 that you've revealed enough about you to us to where we know 1075 01:03:51,880 --> 01:03:55,120 you and we can know you and we can trust you and believe in 1076 01:03:55,120 --> 01:04:02,960 you, and that's very special. So Father, I thank you that 1077 01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:07,600 you're complicated. I thank you, Father, that you're 1078 01:04:07,600 --> 01:04:10,960 above. I thank you, Father, that you're 1079 01:04:10,960 --> 01:04:14,320 just greater. I thank you, Father, that you're 1080 01:04:14,320 --> 01:04:18,120 just different. I thank you, Father, that you're 1081 01:04:18,440 --> 01:04:21,360 transcendent above us. And yet at the same time, 1082 01:04:21,360 --> 01:04:23,720 Father, you seek to be intimate with us. 1083 01:04:24,200 --> 01:04:31,640 And Lord, that really is grace. How in the world could such 1084 01:04:31,640 --> 01:04:36,320 finite little people like us ever be able to connect to 1085 01:04:36,320 --> 01:04:40,240 Someone Like You? So thank you, Father, for your 1086 01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:42,520 love. Thank you, Father, for the way 1087 01:04:42,520 --> 01:04:47,160 you help us to trust, Lord. Help us, Father, as we encounter 1088 01:04:47,160 --> 01:04:49,600 this world around us that has gone absolutely berserk and 1089 01:04:49,600 --> 01:04:53,480 crazy. Father, they don't believe in 1090 01:04:53,480 --> 01:04:58,760 you, they don't trust in you. But Lord, I pray that you will 1091 01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:03,880 work, Father, even as you wrote through the prophet Habakkuk. 1092 01:05:04,320 --> 01:05:07,720 How long, Lord? How long will we watch all this 1093 01:05:07,720 --> 01:05:11,960 happen? How long will we wait until we 1094 01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:15,040 watch you work? But Father, you promise us one 1095 01:05:15,040 --> 01:05:18,520 day you will. So Lord, in the meantime, give 1096 01:05:18,520 --> 01:05:21,720 us the work to do. Let us pray for people. 1097 01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:25,400 Let us invite people. Let us share with people. 1098 01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:29,080 Let us not give up on one another, but let us rejoice in 1099 01:05:29,080 --> 01:05:32,480 gathering together to celebrate you, to learn about you, to 1100 01:05:32,480 --> 01:05:36,440 encourage one another, and to reach this world that 1101 01:05:36,440 --> 01:05:38,320 desperately needs to know about you. 1102 01:05:39,200 --> 01:05:42,200 So thank you, Father, Thank you for bugs in the jungle. 1103 01:05:43,880 --> 01:05:45,000 Thank you, Father. And Lord. 1104 01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:48,440 I look forward one time. Lord, what a blessing it'll be 1105 01:05:49,280 --> 01:05:53,240 to meet those brothers and sisters one day when we sit 1106 01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:57,880 around the throne and every knee is bowed and every tongue is 1107 01:05:57,880 --> 01:06:03,760 confessing who you are. And I'll get to reunite with 1108 01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:08,560 them, Bless his Father, watch over us for the rest of this 1109 01:06:08,560 --> 01:06:10,240 week. Bless the team going to Western 1110 01:06:10,240 --> 01:06:13,080 North Carolina and use them. Father, Lord, what a what a 1111 01:06:13,080 --> 01:06:15,920 blessing, what a heartache, what a hardship it's been on those 1112 01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:18,120 dear people. I pray, Father, that not only 1113 01:06:18,120 --> 01:06:20,200 will they build houses, but they'll build hope. 1114 01:06:21,240 --> 01:06:24,320 And they'll encourage the share about you. 1115 01:06:25,200 --> 01:06:29,920 And they'll come back to tell us, Thank you, Father, in 1116 01:06:29,920 --> 01:06:32,760 Christ's name, Amen. God bless you all. 1117 01:06:32,760 --> 01:06:37,240 Thank you very much. Thank you so much for listening 1118 01:06:37,240 --> 01:06:38,840 today. And I also hope that you'll go 1119 01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:41,080 to ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 1120 01:06:41,080 --> 01:06:44,120 as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless 1121 01:06:44,120 --> 01:06:46,320 you and your families. Thank you once again.