We're going to start on the doctrine
of the Trinity tonight. I've been wanting to get here
for a long time, and I thought I'd get it done in one service,
but I had ten points, and I thought I might as well just try five
tonight. But here in 1 John 5 and 7, it
says this, There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father
and the Word. You see how that Word is capitalized?
That's Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. The Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and watch this, and these three are one. Now, I want to talk about the
Blessed Trinity tonight. But now the word Trinity, and
we often use words that are not in the Bible. We use them all
the time that's not in the Bible. Trinity is one of those words.
You can't find Trinity in the Bible. It's not in there. Nowhere
in the Word of God will you find God's call three-in-one or one-in-three. But substitution, the word substitution
is not in the Bible either. But the truth of it is all the
way through it. Truth of it is all the way through it. Isaiah
53 is all about substitution. 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made
Christ to be sin who knew no sin that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. When Abraham took Isaac upon
the mountain, substitution. When God slew the animals and
clothed Adam and Eve, substitution. The word's not there, but it's
all the way through the Scriptures. Passover lamb. And the sovereignty
of God. The word sovereign's not in the
Scriptures. But Almighty God is. The truth of it is. God reigns
is. God is omnipotent is. God is
omniscient. God is omnipresent. And yet the
truth of it is. So you see, we use words. Oftentimes
it's not in the Scriptures, but the Scriptures clearly teach
us that the true and living God is one. One God. Here, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one. One. But also, the Scriptures
also clearly teach that Jesus of Nazareth is truly God. Yet he is a distinct person from
the Father. So there you've got God who is
one, Christ is a distinct person, he is God, and the Father is
God. And also the scriptures teach plainly and clearly that
the Holy Spirit is truly God. He is God himself. And here's
the thing, beloved, the Holy Ghost is not an influence. The
Holy Ghost is not an it. He is a person. And one doesn't
have to have a body to be a person. When we get into eternity, and
this is why Christ came into the world, God has never been
seen at any time. He dwells in a life that no man
can approach unto. But no man has seen God, the
only begotten Son. He hath declared Him. And the
only God we're going to see, we're not going to see the Father,
and we're not going to see the Holy Ghost. We're going to see
the Lord Jesus Christ, the only God we're going to see. But that
does not mean that there isn't a Father. It does not mean that
the Holy Ghost, that Christ is the... They all have different
administrations in their persons. And also the Word of God, the
Scriptures clearly teaches that there is a Trinity of three persons
in the Godhead. Ain't that what it just said?
There are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, that's
one. The Word, Christ, that's two.
And the Holy Ghost, that's three. One God and three persons. And
by God's help, by God's grace, I want to deal with the subject
of the Trinity, and I want to do it by asking questions. Asking questions. And as we face
these questions, I believe we'll find the truth and get some understanding,
maybe, of the Trinity and the Scriptures. Now, you don't have
to answer these questions. I'm going to answer them. That's
what I'm asking them for, so I can answer them. I don't want
you to answer them, I'm going to answer them. Here's my first question. Does
the Bible teach that God is one person? That's not a good question. No,
no, the Bible doesn't teach that God is one person. It teaches
that there is one God, but not one person. Not one person. We'll see from the Word of God
that there is one God in three persons. One God with three Persons,
and I'm going to show you this, and first place we're going to
find it mentioned in Genesis 126. First time we'll see that
there's a Trinity in the Persons in Genesis 126. God is not one Person, but we'll
see that there's one God in three Persons. If there was one Person,
then there wouldn't be a Trinity. There wouldn't be the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But Genesis 126 says this, and
God says, let us make man in our image after our likeness.
Now who is us that he's talking? Let us make man. Who is he talking
to? Is he talking to angels, cherubim, seraphims, some created
being? No, no. Let us. the Father that
bears record in heaven. Let us, the Word who bears record
in heaven. Let us, the Holy Ghost who bears
record in heaven. Let us three, let us make man
in our own image. So there's the first evidence
of the Trinity. Look at Genesis 11 and verse
7. Here's another one. Now, we're going to look at several
scriptures tonight. And you know, they're building
the Tower of Babel. And here they come down and it
says in verse 5, And the Lord came down to see the city and
the tower which the children of men builded. Genesis 11, 5.
And the Lord said, Behold, a people's one, and they of all one language,
and this they began to do. And now nothing will be restrained
from them which we have imagined to do. Now watch this. Go to,
let us go down. And there confound their language.
Who's us? Let us go down. Let us go down. And you remember when Abraham
sat in the door of the temple, three men appeared to him and
said, Shall we let Abraham know what we're going to do? And so
you see, let us. Here's the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost. It's talking about a trinity.
And you remember when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted
up. And he said, And after that cold touched his lip, he heard
the voice of the Lord say, Whom shall we send? And who will go
for us? Go for us? He says, who shall
I send? And who shall we send? And who
shall go for us? Who's us he's talking about?
That's the blessed Trinity. Who will go and witness for us? And Isaiah said, here am I. Send
me. Send me. And let me show you
over in John, chapter 14. John's Gospel, chapter 14. You
see, the Bible teaches that there's one God in three persons, and
here we'll see it clearly right here, John 14, verse 16. Let us, let us. And here in John 14, 16, it says
this, And I will pray to the Father. Now there's Christ, and
I'll pray to the Father. And He shall give you another
Comforter. So there's Christ praying to the Father. And the
Father's going to give you another comforter. And there's the Father,
there's the Son, and there's the Holy Ghost, all coming through
the prayer of one being sent by another. I'll pray to the
Father, and He'll send the Holy Spirit. So you see here, the
first thing, that the Bible doesn't teach that God is one person.
No, it teaches that there's one God in three persons. Now, here's
my second question. Does the Bible teach that there
are the scriptures teach that there is a Father and Holy Spirit
and the Son? Yes, it definitely does. And
we have evidence over and over and over. And I'll show you,
this is the clearest right here in Matthew 3. The clearest is
in Matthew 3. Everybody knows this one. You
know, when John was baptizing in Jordan, John chapter 3 and
verse 13, It says here that Jesus comes
from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized. And John said,
Oh, I got need to be baptized of you, and you come to me? And
our Lord said, Suffer to be so now, for it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus,
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 descending like a dove and lighten on him. And, lo,
a voice from heaven saith, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased." Now, here's Christ in the water, the Father
speaking from heaven, and the Holy Ghost coming down. And John
said, He that sent me to baptize said this, When you see the Spirit,
Coming down in the form of a dove, that's the one whom I have sent. He'll baptize you with the Holy
Ghost. He said, that's how I'll know it's Him, when you see the
Spirit of God descend upon Him. And you know our Lord Jesus,
He said this, He said, Go ye into all the nations, teaching
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. And you know how many people
there are in this world that don't believe in the Trinity?
There's a multitude of people who don't believe in the Trinity.
There's a whole church called the Unitarians. Jehovah's Witnesses
don't believe in the Trinity. Lots of people don't believe
in it. And John 15, 26 says, and you know, and I'll read this
to you. You don't have to turn to it.
I'll just read it to you myself. I'll get over there real quick
and read it to you. John 15, 26. Here's another one. Our Lord says, Well, when the
Comforters come, that's the Holy Spirit, whom I will send unto
you from the Father. The Comforter is going to come,
and I'm going to send Him, and where am I going to send Him
from? From the Father. Oh, and there He said, I'll pray, and
the Father will send Him. And you see, beloved, you know,
the Comforter, I'll send Him from the Father. He proceeds
from the Father. So we see we have, yes, The Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Scriptures teach plainly
that there's three persons of blessed Trinity. Here's my third
question. Third question. Is the word,
one, as it's used in the Scriptures,
is it used in the Scriptures in reference to God? And you
know, this is one of the things that they use. And Myles McKee
was telling me about how People get confused over this, and he
knows several people's been confused about it because that's been
explained. They actually think that there's three gods. When
they look at God, they see three persons. Because the scripture
says, you know, it has to be one or three people. And because
the scripture says so often about God being one, And the scriptures
reference God being one in so many places. And they say, well,
if He says He's one, how can one be three? And how can three
be one? And they just argue and debate
and fuss and fight about that. But let me show you. You know
where Zechariah is? You go to Malachi. Zechariah
is the next book after Malachi. Look at Zechariah, chapter 14
with me, just a moment. Malachi and then Zechariah. Malachi 14 is the last chapter
before you get to Malachi. And you know the word one is
used in the Bible in reference to God many, many, many times.
And here in Zechariah 14.9, I'm going to show you how that this
one is three, and three is one. And the Lord shall be king over
all the earth. In that day there shall be one
Lord, and his name one. Did you see that? There shall be one Lord, and
his name one. But as you know, just to give
you an illustration, Isaiah 9, 6 says, Thou shalt call him wonderful
Counselor of the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the
Prince of Peace. Now, how in the world can Christ, the Child
that's born, and the Son that's born, the Child that's given,
how can the Son be the everlasting Father? We're faced with things in the
Scriptures you can't explain, but we, by God's grace, believe
them. And also, there's one in Mark chapter 12. You don't have
to look there, you know, but this scribe said to the master,
asked the Lord Jesus, said, which is the greatest commandment?
And our Lord said here, the Lord our God is one and thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all your heart. The Lord our God
is one. Now, the word one, when you find this word one, God is
one. The Lord our God is one. That
means one Lord, one name. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
When we find the word one in the Scriptures in reference to
God, as it refers to God, it means unity. It means unity. It doesn't mean unit. One's a
unit. Two's two units. Whatever you
want to do, it's a unit. But this is not a unit. This
is unity. When you find the one one, it
always means unity. The Lord our God is one God in
heart, in purpose, In unity, in gold, in covenant, He's one. Look at John 10.30. Here's a
perfect example of what I'm trying to say. What our Lord said. John
10.30. Watch what He says. The word
one means unity. You know that there's three persons,
though we're one God, they're unified in one goal, one purpose,
one heart. In one covenant, everything they
do is one. They do it together as one. Look
what he said here in John 10.30, I and my Father are one. That's
two people there. He said, I and my Father are
one. He didn't say, I and my Father
is one. I and my Father want to be one.
I and my Father will be one someday. He said, I and my Father are
right now, presently, one. And there's two persons, and
he says, I'm one. Well, some people say you can't
have the Father, you can't have Jesus, you can't have the Holy
Spirit. Well, why not? They're one. They're unified. They've got a unity in their
purpose and their will. In their actions, in their salvation,
we owe our salvation to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
We couldn't be saved without when you take away the Trinity
and you take away salvation. Who purchased salvation? Who
purchased salvation? Who applied salvation? And I'm
going to show you, and here's another perfect description over
in 1 Corinthians 3. Let me show you this. This is
talking about unity and where one means 1 Corinthians 3. Oh my, that's
why our Lord, He says, I pray not for them now that believe
on me, but them who shall believe on me, that they may be one,
Father, as we are one. And that's what He says, that
Christ said, I don't understand this, you know, that Christ our
Lord prayed and said, Father, I will. That they that they've
given me, they may be one as we are one. that they'll dwell
in us as we dwell in them, as we are one, they'll be one with
us. Now, when we get into eternity, we're going to be one with the
Father, and one with the Son, and one with the Holy Ghost,
and we're going to be one in heart, and one in will, and one
in purpose, and we're going to be one with them, which we can't
be right now in heart. We are in As far as God's concerned,
but in our hearts and in our souls without sin, there will
be one with Him perfectly and completely, and never resist
His will. His purpose will be perfect in
our hearts. Huh? Look here in 1 John 3.8. This is where Paul is talking
about. People say, well, I'm with Paul
and I'm with Apollos. He says in verse 6, I have planted
Apollos' water, but God gave the increase. So then neither
is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but
God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one. Now wait a minute. Paul and Apollos are two separate
people, two separate preachers. Now how can he say they're one?
Because they both have the same purpose, they both have the same
goal. One of them water, one of them soul. Sometimes one of
them another in water, another in soul. But the purpose is to
glorify God, strengthen His people. They have one goal, one purpose,
one will, one aim. And that's why it says, it don't
make no difference, we're one. We got the same goal, the same
purpose. So don't say, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos. They're
nothing. It's the goal, it's the unity
that we have that means anything. Do you see that? Oh, man. Do you reckon a man
can understand the Trinity? Here's my fourth question. Can
a man understand the Trinity? No. Would you want a God you
could understand? You know, he said, you thought I
was altogether one like you. Oh, I don't want one like me. Oh, no, we don't need a God we
can understand. I don't want one, do you? If
we had one that we could understand, He wouldn't be much of a God.
If He had one we could figure out, He wouldn't be much of a
God. And let me show you that over
here in Psalm 89 and 6. Here's what I'm trying to say.
Psalm 89 and 6. talking about, we don't need
a God we can understand. And oh, can a man understand
the Trinity? No. No. That's why, you know, Psalm
89, verse 6 says this, For who in the heaven can be compared
unto the Lord? And who among the sons of the
mighty can be like unto the Lord? Who are you going to compare
the Lord to? Is there anything on this in heaven that you can
compare the Lord to? Is there an angel up there you
can compare Him to? Can you compare the heavens to Him? He made them.
The stars to Him, He named them. They just declare His glory.
Is there an angel there you can compare Him to? He says the heavens
are not pure at His sight. Job asked this question. He said,
Canst thou by searching find out the Almighty? Canst thou,
by searching, find out the Almighty unto perfection? Huh? Look in Isaiah 44 with me just
a moment. Oh, I can preach the Trinity.
We can talk about the Trinity. We can rejoice in the Trinity.
And we believe in the Trinity. We believe that there is one
God in three persons. We have too many Scriptures.
But I also know this. I can preach it, but I can't
explain it. But we can believe it, and we do believe it by faith.
We bow to it by faith. And it's like the Word of God.
I mean, you know, when the Holy Spirit comes to a man, the Spirit
bears witness to the fact that this Bible is the Word of God.
There's a lot of people that are reading it. And they'll say,
well, you know, I don't understand it. But I don't need somebody
to convince me that this is the Bible. I don't need somebody
to find some tablets over in Israel. I don't need them to
find some tablets in a cave somewhere. I don't need them to find the
ark on Mount Ariat. I don't need them to find the
ark that the law was kept in. I don't need nothing to prove
to me that the Bible is the Word of God. The Spirit Himself bears
witness with me that this is the truth. And that's the same thing it
does about the Trinity. We, by faith, are spirit-based
witness to these blessed truths, don't we? Look here in Isaiah
44 and verse 4. No, excuse me. I said 46. Pardon
me. Isaiah 46. I'm sorry. Isaiah 46 and 4. Even to your old age I am He,
and even to your poor hairs will I carry you. I have made, and
I will bear, even I will carry and deliver you. Now watch this.
Well, to whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare
me that we may be like? We can't carry God. We carry
every one of us. We didn't know nothing about
being born. But He formed us in our mother's womb and carried
us from our mother's womb. Oh, my. That's the thing. You know, we can't understand
it. But I'll tell you one thing we can do. There's lots of things
in the Scriptures we don't understand. But, beloved, we believe it.
And here's my last question for tonight. Here's my last question. Does the Bible teach that the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons? Three distinct persons who are
one God, and all three of them possess the same essence. They're
exactly the same. But they're three distinct persons
in one God. Does the Bible teach that? Yes,
sir, it does. I'm going to show you that. In
John 3.35, you don't have to look at it. He says this, The
Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands.
Here's one person of the Godhead says to love another person in
the Godhead. The Father loveth the Son. The
Father, a distinct person, loves the Son, a distinct person. Matthew
11.27, we need to look at that. We need to look at that. Matthew 11, 27. We need to look
at this together. And look what our Lord says here. You know, one, the Father, a
distinct person, loves the Son, a distinct person. And He says
here in Matthew 11, 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. Now watch this. And no man knows
the Son but the Father. Neither knows any man the Son,
save the Father, and he to whomsoever he will reveal him." Here's one
person in the Trinity who knows the other person in the Trinity.
And they're both herein, he says, no man knows the Son but the
Father. Nobody knows the Father but the
Son. So that's two distinct people and nobody knows them the way
they know one another. And the only way we can know
them is if Christ reveals them to us. Huh? And also, there is
one person in the Trinity that knows the other person in the
Trinity. And Hebrews 1a says this, God says to the Son, He
saith, Thy throne, this is God speaking, Hebrews 1a, Thy, thus
saith God, this saith the Lord, Thy throne, O God, is forever,
and thy scepter is a scepter of righteousness." There's the
Father, there's one God, called the other one God, and said,
His throne will last forever. And His scepter is a scepter
of righteousness. One person addressing another
person. The Father is addressing the Son and telling Him that
His throne will last forever. And then in John 14, 26, let
me show you this. John 14, 26. Oh, so we see. I wanted to keep this as simple
as I possibly could. Here in John 14, 26, he says
this, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. Now, there's
a distinct person. Whom the Father will send in
my name. One person sends another person.
How can that be? The Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send, who is sending in the name of
the Son. So that's all three of them again. But one person
sends another person. And so that's two distinct persons.
One sending another person into Godhead. People say that just
can't be. That can't be. What? Because
you know that these are distinct people. Why can't it be? He's
God. You can't explain it. That's
why Job said, just now by searching, find out the Almighty. Just now
by searching, find out the Almighty under perfection. David said,
to whom will we liken you? God. There's nothing liking unto
Him. We can't begin to compare anything
to Him. Why? Because we cannot know anything
like Him. Do you know anything on earth
like God? Anything you can compare Him
to on this earth? You can't imagine anything like
Him. You can't conjure up anything like Him. No matter what you
look at, you can't say, well, that's like God. I know people
make some stupid statements, as you know, that God made mothers
because He can't be everywhere. God is my co-pilot. And they bring God down to where
He's like a watch, you know, where you can accept Him or reject
Him. And yet, we're telling you, and I'm telling you, and you
know this as well as I do, but there's nothing in this world
you can compare to Him. Where's it at? Look at the heavens,
they don't compare to Him. You go to the Grand Canyon and
behold the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, and none don't
compare to Him. You see a rainbow, and as beautiful
as it is, all those things, all it does is make you understand
how little we are and how great He is. When you stand and you
see the awesomeness of His own creation and what He made, No
wonder, David said, when I consider the stars, the heaven, the sun,
the moon, that I have ordained, I say, what is man that you are
mindful of him? Oh, beloved, that's the God I
want. I want a God that humanly can't
be like me, that naturally can't be like me. I want a God that's
supernatural, a sovereign and almighty, that you can't explain
Him And you just, the only thing you can do is bow down in worshiping
and say, you're God and I, you're the Creator and I'm the creature.
You're the Savior and I need to be saved. You're the Almighty
and I'm nothing. You're on the throne. And oh
beloved, that's what I want. A God like that. That teaches. And oh beloved, that's what we
say. Comforter, let's go back over these things about Christ,
the Holy Ghost, the Son, the Father, the Son, the Spirit,
being three distinct persons, and yet one God. Like I told
you, of whom the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Father was sent.
Here's one person sent another. What did our Lord Jesus Christ
say? As my Father sent me, so send I you. The Father sent the
Son. One person glorifies another in the Trinity. Our Lord says,
Father, I've glorified you on the earth. And I finish the word. One glorifies another in the
Trinity. And here our Lord said, when
He, the Holy Spirit, has come, He'll glorify me. And yet there
are one. One person. Let's go back over
these four things. One person loves another. One
person knows another. Nobody knows the Father but the
Son. One person addresses another.
The Father saith unto the Son, Thy throne, O God, is established
forever, and thy scepter is a scepter of righteousness. And one person
sins another. The Father sinned the Holy Spirit.
In John 14, in verse Nine, I think it is, or ten. John 14, 8, excuse
me. Let's look at this together.
It'll be done just here in a minute. Oh, my. One person addresses
another. You have the Trinity addressing
one another, working together. They want to say they're in unity.
One God in three persons, but yet the unity is what it means
when they say there's one God. In John 14, 8, it says this. Philip said unto him, Lord, show
us the Father. That'll be sufficient. That'll satisfy us. That'll be
sufficient. Just show us the Father. You
say you've come from the Father? You and the Father are one? Let
us see. Show him to us. Oh, our Lord
said unto him, I've been so long time with you, and yet thou shalt
not know me, Philip. Now what's this? He that has
seen me has seen the Father. When I believe the Son, I get
the Father. When I believe the Father, I
get the Son. And I can't believe either one of them unless the
Holy Ghost gives me faith and works it in me and makes me see.
And watch what else he goes on to say. How sayest thou then,
show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? I speak not of myself,
but the Father that dwelleth in me. He does the work. Oh, and one other scripture,
and I'll just quote it to you. You don't have to look. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who thought
it not robbery, to be equal with God. Equal with God? Equal with God? And He didn't
rob God? No, no, no. You see, beloved,
the believers in Christ But the believer's not Christ. Christ
is not the believer. Christ is in the believer, and
the believer's in Christ. The believer's not Christ, and
Christ is not the believer, yet they're one. I'm in Christ, and
Christ is in me. I'm not Christ, and Christ is
not me. I'm in Him, and He's in me. And
yet we're one. How do I know we're one? The
Father regards us as one. Don't He? Accepted in the Beloved. I love them as I love you. He
loves us as one. He accepts us as one. We're in
Christ. That's what the Scripture tells
us. And the Father accepts me in Christ and receives me in
Christ. Without me losing my identity, I'm still Don Bell,
and Christ is in me, and I'm in Christ, and we are one, and
He's still Christ, and I'm still Donnie Bell, and yet we're one!
The Father says we are. Oh, when we believe one, we believe
the other, and we give one, we give the other. Ain't that right? I hope that's a blessing
to you, the blessed Trinity. I hope I made it understandable
enough. I enjoyed it very much. I love
these truths, to be able to see them in the Scriptures and bow
to them and rejoice in them and say, this is the Lord. This is
the Lord. How can one God be three distinct
persons and still be one? How can three persons Be one in unity and be one in
our salvation. We believe it, don't we? I believe it.