I hope to bring us a few messages
concerning the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to believers. And tonight, I just sense the
need to first speak to us about some very basic truths about
God. I'm not going to tell us anything
that we do not already know about him, but it's good for us, once
again, to be reminded of these truths. First, there is one God. There is one God. Now there are
verses both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament which
declare that there is only one God. Let's look first at two
verses in the Old Testament. If you will, turn with me tonight
to Isaiah. Both of these verses we'll look
at are in Isaiah. And the first one is in chapter
44, and the second one will be in chapter 46. But in Isaiah chapter 44 and
verse 6, thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer,
the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside
me there is no God. There is one God. And then in chapter 46 and verse
9, we read, remember the former things of old, for I am God and
there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. There's one God and there's none
other, no other being that God may be compared to. There's one
God. Now, those are two verses. There's
others, of course, in the Old Testament. But I want us to look
now in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. So this is just a
basic truth that we all know about God, and that is there
is one God. In 1 Corinthians chapter 8, And
the Apostle Paul, in writing to the believers in this church,
is dealing with the subject, what about food, especially meat,
that has been offered unto idols? Is it okay for a child of God
to eat meat that has been before sacrificed to idols? And from what I've read, this
was almost universal. Anytime they killed a beef or
any kind of an animal for meat, they would do it as a sacrifice. That is, these pagans, these
incarnate. So beginning in verse four of
chapter eight, he says, as concerning, therefore, the eating of those
things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know I love these
verses of scripture where the apostle Paul says, we know. We
know. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. There's several of these verses
that are such a blessing to us. But here the apostle says, now
we know this. This is something that we know.
that an idol is nothing, nothing. I remember a man that was a believer
in Yucatan, a man that heard the gospel that I preached there.
And he told me one time that he went to a fair in another
city. Now he'd been raised in Roman
Catholicism and idols and saints and All of that was just part
and parcel of their religion. But he said he went one time
to a fair in another city, and he saw a man making an idol out
of plaster of Paris. And he said, I looked at that
man, and he said, I knew. It was nothing. The man who was
making it was just like me. Wasn't he better? Wasn't he different? Dressed just like I dress as
a Mayan? He said, I realize that an idol
is nothing. That's what Paul is saying and
teaching the believers in this church. We know God's given us
this knowledge that an idol is nothing in the world and there
is none other God but one. Now we know that. For though
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
as there be gods many, and lords many, and there are many, many
that are called gods, in Hinduism, I just would be afraid to even
guess how many different gods that they have. So Paul says
that we know that an idol is nothing, that there are many,
that are called God, some of them supposedly are in heaven,
some are upon the earth, but there's only one God, but to
us, notice this verse six, but to us there is but one God, the
Father of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus
Christ by whom are all things, and we by Him. Now consider the
Apostle Paul writing this and saying, to us, to us, he would
include himself along with those believers in the church at Corinth
who had embraced the truth. But make no mistake about it.
They were living among polytheists. They were living in a place at
a time when the majority of the people believed in many gods,
but we know, to us, he says, to us, to Paul. Now, Paul was
raised in a Jewish home, even though his father was not a Jew,
but his mother and his grandfather, they knew the scripture, they
taught the scripture, and I've read that this was the custom
in every Jewish home at that time, especially, every day,
When they awoke and got about their business, this is one of
the first thing they would always hear. Every child, hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one Lord. So for Paul, yes, he knew that
there's only one God. He was raised being taught that. You know, the Jews, when you
read through the Old Testament, you see they were probably the
only nation of all the nations of the world that did not worship
many gods. And even they, as you go through
the Old Testament, even they, once they came into the land
of Canaan, they fell into idolatry and God chastened them time after
time after time, selling them into the hands of their enemies
and then raising up a deliverer and delivering them from for
an oppression, but then the day came when God just sent them
off into 70 years, exile into Babylon. And the Jews, when they
came back out of Babylon, never again, as a whole, were guilty
of believing in a number of gods, of worshiping idols. They were
cured of that. Gentiles, at the time the New
Testament was written, at this time when Paul writes these words
unto us, there is but one God. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
was asked one day by a scribe. Now, a scribe was a man who studied
the Old Testament. That was his job. That was his
work. He studied. They looked at the letters, they
counted the letters, how many numbers, what's the middle verse,
and I mean all of the intricate parts of the Old Testament. But
a scribe asked the Lord Jesus Christ this question one time,
which is the first commandment of all? And our Lord asked, answered
rather, The first commandment is, thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and all thy mind. And the second is, like unto
it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And then this scribe
who asked the question, he responded with these words. He said, well,
well, master, thou hast said the truth. For there is one God,
and there is none other. The Jews may well have been the
only nation in all the world who did not believe and serve
and worship a number of would-be gods. Gentiles unless they were proselytes
to Judaism. I'm talking about Gentiles before
they heard the gospel and embraced the truth concerning God just
before Christ came. There were proselytes to Judaism,
and when they were proselytes to Judaism, then they came to
believe also that there's only one God. But if they were not
proselytes to Judaism, the Gentiles, for the most part, believe that
there are many gods. When Paul went to Athens, this
is recorded in Acts chapter 17, now Athens was the seat of learning,
the Athens of Greece, the place where the greatest philosophers,
philosophers who are still studied today, this is where many of
them were. And yet when Paul was asked to
preach, and the only reason he was asked to preach is because
he was declaring unto them the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection
from the dead. And they assumed that it was
some new God, some God they hadn't heard of before. And so they
asked him to preach. And you remember how he began
his message. He said, I noticed that there
is an idol dedicated to the unknown God. An idol. I believe that's the way it reads.
Yes, an altar rather. An altar with this inscription
to the unknown God. In other words, he found one
altar among many altars dedicated to many different gods in this
place of learning. He found one altar that was dedicated
to the unknown God, and he said, I'm here to speak to you about
him. And in his message, he makes
it clear there's only one God who is the creator of all men. A friend of mine told me one
time, after he was saved, that he was talking to his dad. His
dad had always been an atheist, always claimed not to believe
that there is a God. And he was reasoning with his
dad one time, and he told him, he said, well, you know there
had to be a first cause. Everything here. There had to
be a first cause. And his dad said, you're right,
there had to be a first cause. And the only one who is the first
cause of all things is himself, the one who has given being to
everyone and upon whom all others depend. There is one God. The attributes of God testify
to this truth. I noticed in the psalm we were
reading just a little while ago, Psalm 143, David seemed to be
very discouraged and very downcast in much of that psalm. But then
he said he mused on the works of God. What a blessing it is,
isn't it, in this congregation, in Sunday school and in the gospel
services, how often we are reminded of the attributes of God, the
characteristics of God. He'll be an unknown God to us
unless we hear the word in the scriptures. But the attributes
of God testify to this truth. There cannot be but one God.
God is infinite. There cannot be two infinites. That's an impossibility. There
can only be one God who is an infinite God. And there can only
be one God who is omnipresent because he fills heaven and earth. And as we've often said, there's
not room for another God. There's not room for another
God. And we know that God Almighty is omnipotent, that He is all-powerful. Well, there cannot be two all-powerfuls. If there were the first all-powerful,
He might do His will, and the second all-powerful resist His
will. And when I think about a second
all-powerful resisting God's will, I cannot help but think
that so much of religion today teaches that man has the power
to resist God's will. That man, he's that other omnipotent
in the universe. But we know that's just not so.
There's one God. Number two, there are three persons
in the one eternal God. Now again, there are verses which
declare this, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Let's look today, first of all,
in Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26. This, of course, is the week
of creation. Genesis 1 and verse 26. Scripture
says, and God said, let us, notice that us, let us
make man in our image, after our likeness. Creation is the
work of God alone. And here we are told that creation,
the creating of man was the work of us. Now, us means plural,
us. Creation is the work of God alone,
so there must be more than one person in the Godhead. The work
of creation is the work of God, and yet God who creates, he says,
let us make man in our image. In Ecclesiastes 12 and verse
1, The wise man said this, remember now thy creator in the days of
thy youth. According to John Gill, the word
which is translated there, creator, is plural. It could be translated,
remember now thy creators in the day of thy youth. And Mr. Gill went on to comment saying,
for more than one were concerned as in creation in general, so
of man in particular. And in Job 33 and verse 4, he
said, the Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the
Almighty hath given me life. Now notice that Job said, the
Spirit of God hath made me, but in John chapter 1 and verse 3,
speaking of the eternal word, all things were made by him.
Now this is not a contradiction, is it? When we read that all
things were made by the word and we read that the Holy Spirit
has made me, we know that both statements are true because there
are three persons in the Godhead. There's only one God. We've already
seen that. We've already declared that.
But there are three persons in the one God. Look to me in Isaiah
chapter 48, another verse in the Old Testament, in Isaiah
chapter 48 and a couple of more in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 48 and verse
16, Come ye near unto me, hear ye
this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the
time that it was, there I. And now the Lord God and His
Spirit has sent me. You see three persons there,
do you not? You see God the Father, you see the Spirit, and you see
the eternal Son who was sent God so loved the world that he
gave, he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. All right, look again in Isaiah
61. This is a very familiar verse
of scripture because our Lord quoted this, he read this rather
from Isaiah when he had been baptized and went back to Nazareth
and they handed him the book, remember? The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. You see all three persons there.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath
anointed me. All right? Let's look in 63,
Isaiah 63. In verses 9 and 10. In all their affliction, He was
afflicted. That's an amazing statement,
isn't it? Whatever affliction you have
gone through or going through or shall go through, in all their
affliction, this is God, His people. In all their affliction,
He was afflicted. And the angel of His presence
saved them in His love and in His pity, He redeemed them. And
He bared them and carried them all the days of old. But they
rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit, His Holy Spirit. Therefore He
was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them. We know there's other verses
as well that show us the trinity of persons in the Godhead. All
right, let's look at a couple of verses in the New Testament.
Matthew chapter 3, at our Lord's baptism. This is clearly a demonstration
of all three persons in the Godhead. In Matthew chapter 3, in verses 16 and 17, Jesus, this
is the Son of God made flesh, right? when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit,
descending upon him like a dove. And lo, here's the Father, a
voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. And then the last chapter of
Matthew, when our Lord is sending his apostles out to preach the
gospel. Matthew chapter 8, 28 rather,
Matthew 28 verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name. Now, you see that singular,
in the name. Not the names, but the name. The name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And then, one other scripture
in 2 Corinthians, the last chapter of 2 Corinthians, this apostolic
doxology. I've been blessing. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and
verse 14. 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 and
verse 14, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. You
know what is interesting about this verse here? You notice the
order is different than what we normally say. Baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but here
the blessing in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit. What does
that tell us? That tells us that there's an equality. that the
Father is not greater than the Son. Now, when the Lord Jesus
Christ in John 10 said, the Father is greater than I, remember,
He's not speaking as the eternal Son of God alone, but as the
God-man, mediator. And as the God-man mediator,
He voluntarily became the servant of the Lord. And that's what
is meant there by our Lord making that statement. So there's one
God. Number two, there are three persons
in the one eternal God. And number three, here are three
things we're told about their relationship one to another. That is the relationship of the
Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Number one, the
scriptures reveal that the Father beget the Son. Hebrews 1 5. Thou art my Son this day have
I begotten thee. Now this day is the eternal day,
the everlasting day, and it declares unto us that the Son is eternal
as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Remember in The book of Revelation,
the Lord Jesus Christ confessed himself to be, I am the first
and I am the last. So when we read and the scriptures
declare this, and it's a mystery that is beyond our comprehension,
I understand that. But the relationship of the son
or the father rather to the son is the father beget the son. And the way when we hear that
word, we automatically think, well, there had to be one before
the other. No, no. The father beget the
son, but yet this begetting was in the day, which is without
beginning. Eternity. And just as we read in Isaiah
44 and verse 6, Thus said the Lord, the King of Israel, and
his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last,
and beside me there is no God. As Redeemer, we know that, speaking
of the Son, He's the first, He's the last. And yet the Scriptures
reveal that the Father beget the Son. All right? Second, the Scriptures reveal
that the Son is begotten of the Father. 1 John 4, and this was manifested,
the love of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through Him. The Son is
begotten of the Father. And third, the scriptures reveal
that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the
Son. John 15 and verse 26 we read,
but when the Comforter is come, that's God the Holy Spirit, when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, now listen, which proceedeth from
the Father shall testify of me. Now you've heard of the Roman
church and the Greek church. And this is one thing that divides
those two supposedly orthodox churches. And that is the Greek
church took the position that the Spirit only proceeds from
the Father. where the Roman or Western Church,
that the Spirit proceeds both from the Father and the Son. Now that verse in John 15 we
just read, which proceeded from the Father shall testify of me.
But look at this verse in Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 9, But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, we believe
the Scriptures reveal that the Holy Spirit proceeds both from
the Father and from the Son. God is from everlasting to everlasting,
and so must this begetting and this proceeding. When we talk
about the Son being begotten, we talk about the Holy Spirit
proceeding from Father and Son. We know that God is from everlasting
to everlasting, so this begetting and this proceeding is is from
eternity, and if that's not true, then we would be charging God
with mutability, that God changes. And we know that is not so. I am the Lord, and I change not. What He is, He has always been. And what He has always been,
He shall forever be. He is the eternal God. All right, let me close with
this, fourth. Salvation is of the Lord, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. You've heard me say this before,
but I love a number of the hymns that we sing here, but I love
those that mention each person in the Godhead. not above others,
of course, but I just love to sing and to praise and to remind
ourselves that the salvation is of the Father, salvation is
of the Son, salvation is of the Holy Spirit. When that verse
says salvation is of the Lord, the Lord, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. The Father gave his only begotten
Son. The Son gave his life, a ransom
for many. And the Holy Spirit gives life
to trust in that one mediator between God and men. So we worship
God. God saves us. The Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Well, I know there's just some
basic truths that we know about God, but I wanted to bring this
message and the Lord willing, speak more about the ministry
of the Holy Spirit and believers and future Wednesday evening
services. So let's sing a hymn before we're
dismissed.