Let's open our Bibles tonight
to 1 John chapter 5 and verse 7. 1 John chapter 5 and verse
7. I suppose there has been a more
concerted effort throughout history to try to expunge 1 John 5-7
from the scriptures than any other single text. And it's altogether
without reason. Your modern translations of scripture,
all of them, eliminate this text from the scriptures except for
a few, and those few that include it We'll give a note saying it
ought not be included because it's not supported by the ancient
manuscripts and such as that. And there is absolutely no validity
to that statement. Let's read our text and then
read it in the verses surrounding it. First John 5, verse 7. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, These three
are one These three are one There you have the title of my message
tonight These three are one Now read verse 6 and leave out verse
7 and go right on to verse 8 This is he that came by water and
blood even Jesus Christ not by water only but by water and blood,
and it is the spirit that beareth witness, because the spirit is
truth. Verse eight. And there are three
that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water and the
blood, and these three agree in one. Now to any casual reader
who tries to remember what he's reading and pays attention to
what he's reading, You'd read those two verses and think something's
missing. Something's been left out. And
if you leave out 1 John 5, 7, you've left out that which explains
both verse 6 and verse 8. So let's read them together.
This is he, the Lord Jesus, that came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it
is the Spirit that beareth witness to Him, to the fact of His incarnation,
His coming, His accomplishments. It is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the spirit, the water and the blood. And
these three agree in one. So the text clearly stands as
it should here in first John chapter five. You might ask,
well, why do people try to expunge this text from the scriptures?
The reason is clear. This is the only statement given
in the entire Word of God that clearly states the biblical doctrine
of the Trinity. Now the Trinity, the triunity
of our God, is taught, as we shall see this evening, throughout
the Scriptures. The triunity, the Trinity, the
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, is taught throughout
the scriptures, but it is stated only here. Now, I emphasize this
particularly to you in this generation because it's becoming quite common
among folks who profess to be believers to include everybody
that possibly can in the camp of what's called Christianity.
We recently had a presidential election and there was a great
deal of discussion about Mr. Romney and the Mormonism that
he espouses as being another branch of Christianity. Mormonism
is not Christianity. Mormonism is as idolatrous as
Islam. Mormonism is nothing like Christianity. But that's not the only thing
to be understood. Any doctrine that denies the
eternal deity, the absolute Godhead of Jesus Christ, is not Christianity. And sadly, that includes most
of what is commonly called Christianity. Now let's look at this text this
evening and see clearly what we're taught here. There are
three that bear record in heaven. Bear record to what? Look back
up in chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. There are
three that bear record that Jesus is the Christ. That this man,
Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed the Christ of God. He is identified,
as we saw Sunday evening, by that which is written in Daniel
9.24, by the accomplishments that he accomplished in his life,
death, and resurrection as our substitute. You understand who
the Messiah is by his accomplishments. You understand that Jesus, the
Nazarene, Jesus, that one who fulfilled the law of the Nazarite,
Jesus, that one born at Bethlehem better than 2,000 years ago and
crucified at Calvary, he is indeed the Christ. For he has accomplished
everything the prophets said the Messiah would accomplish.
And these three bear witness concerning him in heaven. The
Father bears witness this is the Christ, for the Father has
accepted him. And the word, he who is the Logos,
the one by whom God makes himself known, the self-revelation of
God, he bears witness that Jesus is the Christ by his exaltation
in glory. He said, Father, the hour has
come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. He
said, give me the glory now which thou gavest, which I had with
thee before the world was. And this is the glory. Thou hast
given him power over all flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And the witness, the Holy
Spirit bears witness to the fact that Jesus is the Christ by the
regenerating work of his grace, giving life and faith to sinners,
chosen of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,
causing his son to be created in us, Christ in you, the hope
of glory. And these three are one. These
three persons are the one true and living God. We worship one
God in the Trinity, the triunity of his sacred persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, and we adore and worship and trust each as
the God of all grace by whom we are saved. Now let me show
you three things, and I want you to see them clearly for yourself.
First, understand this. The Bible, this book, clearly
and universally teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is one God. Now this is not a matter of guesswork.
It's not a matter of theological speculation or conjecture. First
John 5-7 clearly and specifically states the doctrine of the Trinity. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. But this is not the only place
the doctrine is taught. In fact, it is taught throughout
the scriptures. I want you to turn to a couple
of passages. Turn back to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter
1. Throughout this book, God reveals
himself as a triune being, one in three, three in one, all equal
and co-eternal. When we say we believe in the
Trinity, we're not saying that there are three equal but separate
gods. We're not suggesting that God
is manifest in three personalities, but rather we mean that we worship
one God in three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Well, is this or is it not the
doctrine of Holy Scripture? That's the only thing that matters.
Does the Word of God teach this doctrine? Is it revealed in the
Scriptures? That's the only thing of importance.
Here or Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Moses says in
Deuteronomy chapter 6. But throughout the scriptures,
the Lord, our God, the one true and living God speaks of himself
and is revealed to us in a plurality of persons. Look in Genesis chapter
one, verse one. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and
void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. and the Spirit
of God moved upon the waters. So there in the very opening
verses of Scripture, God is spoken of and the Spirit of God is spoken
of in the plurality of His persons. Chapter 1, verse 26. And God
said, let us make man in our image and after our likeness. God, the one God said, let us
make man in our image and after our likeness. So that God speaks
of himself as a plural person. the Old Testament scriptures
constantly point us to three persons in one Godhead. We're confronted throughout the
scriptures, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We're confronted
with Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and particularly with
the pre-incarnate revelations of Christ, God the Son, constantly
revealed to us as the Son of Man, as the angel of the Lord.
Now, let me give you something. And I want you to listen carefully.
The most common Hebrew word used for God in the Old Testament
is the word El, E-L. You find it in a thousand combinations
in the Old Testament. The plural form of El is Elohim. Whenever God speaks of himself
in the plurality, the word Elohim is the word that's translated
to God. Now this is the word that's used in Genesis chapter
1. In the first chapter of Genesis, in the first chapter, Elohim
is used 32 times, the plural. In the books of Moses, Genesis
through Deuteronomy, Elohim is used more than 5,000 times. Just in those first five books
of the Bible, 5,000 times God refers to himself in this plural
way. In the Old Testament scriptures,
Elohim is used more than 500 times in the writings of Genesis
and in the writings of Moses more than 5,000 times. And in
the Old Testament altogether, the word is used these 5,000
times with a singular verb. So that us, we, And yet it's
used with a singular verb, implying clearly this is one God in a
plural person, but this God is one. The New Testament clearly
sets forth the doctrine of the Trinity as well. In connection
with the incarnation, our Lord Jesus was promised to be the
one who'd come and save his people from their sins. that holy thing
formed in the womb of the Virgin by the Holy Ghost, who is called
the Son of the Highest, so that all three persons in the Godhead
are presented. When our Lord Jesus was baptized,
we hear God the Father speaking from heaven, God the Son being
baptized in our flesh, and God the Holy Spirit lighting upon
him like a dove. When our Lord Jesus gives his
commission to his church, he said, go ye therefore and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name. Not names, but in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So when
we baptize, folks, we baptize them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, baptizing them in the name of
the triune God as our Lord commands us. Our Lord gives a promise
concerning Himself and the gift of the Spirit. He says, I will
pray the Father, and He will give you another comforter that
He may abide with you forever. So the son prays, prays to the
father that he would give the spirit another comforter. But
the word another is not the word that's used when we speak of
something that's different. When Paul speaks of another gospel
in Galatians 1, The word another there means another that is altogether
different. But when our Lord speaks of the
Holy Spirit and says he will send you another comforter, he
says he's going to send you another exactly like me. Because the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one God. Listen to this.
The grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the communion
of the holy ghost be with you all the apostolic benediction
speaks of the father the son and the holy ghost so that throughout
the new testament and throughout the old the holy lord god Reveals
himself in the triunity of his sacred persons. Now, that's the
first point Someone has accurately stated, the father is the fullness
of the Godhead invisible, the son is the fullness of the Godhead
manifested, and the spirit is all the fullness of the God acting
immediately upon his creatures. Now, I confess, frankly, a complete
inability to explain or even illustrate from nature that that
which is taught in scriptures. But the scriptures clearly teach,
we worship one God in the triunity of his sacred persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. I believe it because it's written
in the scriptures. And believing it, I understand
it. We worship one God in the triunity
of his sacred persons. But that's the first point. Here's
the second thing I want you to see. All three persons in the Godhead
are equally gracious. All three persons in the Godhead
are active in our salvations. All three persons in the Godhead,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are engaged in the salvation
of our souls. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Let's look at this one text, and a very familiar text it is
to you. Here in Ephesians 1, the Apostle
Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to tell us that God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are engaged in
our salvation. God the Father is as much engaged
in our salvation as God the Son. God the Spirit is as much engaged
in our salvation as the Father and the Son. And the work of
the Father, the work of the Son, and the work of the Spirit are
all essential to the saving of our souls. We tend to think of
salvation in very limited terms. We tend to think of salvation
as being that time when we are regenerated, born again, given
life and faith in Christ. Salvation takes in the whole
deliverance of our souls. from the ruins of the fall to
the glorious liberty of the sons of God in resurrection glory
when God makes all things new. And every aspect of salvation
is essential. Some people say, well, salvation
just involves the work of Christ. Others say, no, it just involves
the work of the Spirit. No, it involves the work of God the
Father, the work of God the Son, and the work of God the Holy
Spirit. Let's look at it here in Ephesians 1. God the Father
is set before us here as the fountain of all grace. Ephesians
1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. God the Father gave us all the
blessings of his grace in heavenly places. Now watch this, in his
Son, in Christ. According as he the father hath
chosen us in him the son before the foundation of the world He
chose us that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will
The Lord God before the world was in everlasting love predestined
us to the everlasting blessedness of adoption. We were adopted
from eternity when he chose us. He gives us the spirit of adoption,
making us new creatures in Christ, giving us faith in him in the
new birth. And he brings us into the inheritance
of adopted sons in heavenly glory. To that he predestined us according
to the good pleasure of his will. Now watch this, verse 6. To the
praise of the glory of his grace. God did all this for us for the
praise of the glory of his grace. wherein, that is, in his grace,
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now, Oscar Bailey, the
long and short of that is this. Before the world began, God Almighty,
the Father of glory, the God of all grace, made you the highly
favored object of his love and accepted you in his son. That's what Paul talks about
when we talk about it being justified and sanctified and glorified
and called in Christ before the world began. This was done from
eternity. This was done from eternity.
Don't be afraid of election and predestination. Rejoice in it.
This is God's work of grace done for us in Christ before the world
began in covenant mercy. He chose whom he would save. He devised the means by which
he would save them. He accepted Christ as our surety
and made a covenant with us in the surety and accepted Christ
as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world as we were then
saved by his grace in eternity. Now, just turn back just a page
or two to chapter four of Galatians. This blessed benefit of grace
given us in Christ before the world began is brought to us
Experimentally when we are made to experience his grace in the
new birth But when the fullness of time Galatians 4 4 when the
fullness of time was calm God sent forth his son made of a
woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law
that we might receive the adoption of sons And because you are sods This is my prayer for you who
are here tonight who do not know the redeemer May God this night
by his word Send to you the spirit of his son Not to make you his
sods, but because you are sods Not in order that you might become
one of god's elect but because you are god's elect Because you
are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. This is what God does in regenerating
grace. He takes those whom he has adopted
and makes them his sons in the experience of grace, giving them
his son in the new birth, creating Christ in you so that you lift
your hearts to heaven and call God our father. All right. Back in chapter one of Ephesians.
God, the father is the channel of all grace. God, the son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. God, the father is the fountain
of all grace. God, the son, the Lord Jesus, our mediator. He's
the channel of all grace. We may accept it in the beloved.
Verse seven. In who? This one who is the beloved
Christ Jesus. We have redemption through his
blood. We have redemption through the
blood of Christ. Redemptions as necessary as election. Somebody said, well, if you believe
in election, you don't believe that redemption is necessary.
I had some food. Some years ago, because I teach
the doctrine of eternal justification, I wrote folks that Fortner doesn't
believe blood of Christ is necessary. And I wrote to him finally and
told him, I said, you know you're a liar. You know you're a liar. Oh no, redemption's as necessary
as election. We were saved from eternity and
we're saved in time by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ our Lord,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, watch this, according to the riches of his grace. What a wonderful term, the riches
of his grace. querying, that is, the riches
of his grace. He hath abounded toward us. God
abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence. with all the wisdom
of infinity and all the skill of omnipotence. With all wisdom
and skill, God abounds to us, having made known to us the mystery
of his will, having revealed to us this mystery hidden in
God in Christ before the world began. according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. And this is it, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him. He'll gather everything, everything,
everything in heaven, everything in earth, everything in hell,
everything. Every creature, every angel, every man, every demon,
righteous and wicked, every event, painful and pleasurable, he'll
gather everything in one, in Christ. Now watch this. Reconciling
everything to God, in whom we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. I've told you this before but
it'll bear repetition and you'll hear it again still. When Robert
Hawker lay dying after preaching the gospel for 50 years, he had
someone reading to him this portion of scripture that was his favorite
And they got to this 12th verse, and Hawker said, and who first
trusted in Christ? And the person reading just paused,
silently understanding that Mr. Hawker was about to tell him
something worth hearing. He said the triune God first trusted
in Christ. God trusted the mediator, the
God-man, our Savior, before the world was, with all His will
and all His glory and our souls. Oh, if God so trusts Him, how
ought we to trust Him? He first trusted in Christ, our
surety, trusting everything to His hands to the praise of His
glory, so that all grace to sinners, comes to us through Christ the
mediator. 14 times in this first chapter
of Ephesians, Paul uses the words in Christ or in him to tell us
that all the blessings of grace, all that God gives to sinners
is in Christ. God comes to sinners in Christ. Sinners come to God in Christ,
the mediator. Am I chosen of God? I'm chosen
in Christ. Am I blessed of God? I'm blessed
in Christ. Am I predestined by God? I'm
predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Am I adopted
by God? I'm adopted in Christ. Am I accepted
of God? I'm accepted in Christ. Am I
redeemed? I'm redeemed by the blood of
Christ. Am I forgiven? I am forgiven by Christ Jesus.
Am I justified? I'm justified in Christ. Am I
sanctified? He is my sanctification. Am I
righteous? He is my righteousness. Am I
redeemed? He's my redemption. I hope you
understand this. All who worship God, worship
the God-man Jesus Christ as God our Savior. Those who reject
the deity of Christ and the accomplishments of Christ as the God-man, our
Savior, do not worship God. They may as well worship that
stopwatch, or worship Buddha, or worship Confucius, or worship
themselves. If they do not worship the God-man,
Christ Jesus, in the accomplishment of redemption, they do not worship
God. Blissfully lost in contemplation
of this, of God's matchless grace in Christ, John Bunyan, whom
Rex quoted just a little bit ago, made this rapture statement. O thou son of the blessed, grace
stripped thee of thy glory. Grace brought thee down from
heaven. Grace made thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens
of curse as are unspeakable. Grace was in thy heart. Grace
came bubbling up from thy bleeding side. Grace was in thy tears. Grace was in thy prayers. Grace
streamed from thy thorn-crowned brow. Grace came forth with the
nails that pierced thee, with the thorns that pricked thee.
Oh, here are unsearchable riches of grace. Grace to make sinners
happy. Grace to make angels wonder. Grace to make devils astonished. God the Father is the fountain
of all grace. God the Son, the channel, the
medium of all grace. And God the Holy Spirit, the
administrator of all grace. Look at our text again here in
Ephesians 1, verse 13. That we should be to the praise
of the glory of the triune God who first trusted in Christ in
whom ye also trusted How did you come to trust him? How did
you come to trust Jesus Christ? Some slick soul winner knocked
on your door and got you to make a profession of faith. No, no
you Walk down the aisle and repeated a sinner's prayer. No, that's
not how you come to trust Christ. I in whom ye also trusted. Watch this. After that, you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You trusted in Christ when God
spoke to you by his word, the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation. I can't tell you how many sitting
here tonight have come to me, made professions of faith when
you were children or younger folks and involved in religion. And Brother Don, I don't know
exactly when it happened, but somehow God has given me faith
in Christ and I believe Him. How? You hear the word of the
truth, the gospel. the good news, God saved you
by his son. Well, how do you hear that? When
the spirit of God effectually takes the word of God and sprinkles
your conscience from dead works, sprinkles your conscience from
all those things by which you tried to make yourself acceptable
to God and purges your conscience of guilt by the blood of Christ
applied there, so that redemption John Murray put it in his book
is both accomplished and applied It was accomplished for us at
Calvary when Christ said it's finished it is applied when God
the Spirit comes and Sprinkles your conscience when you hear
the word of the truth the good news of your salvation in whom
also After that you believed you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise now I've got to say something here. There
are a lot of folks who have the idea that God gives you faith
in Christ and then you get the seal of the spirit and you speak
in tongues and you have visions and dreams and you wallow around
in the floor and act like a lunatic. That's not what he's talking
about. He's not talking about a second work of grace. Quite literally,
the text reads like this. in whom also having believed
you were sealed. Believing Christ, trusting the
Son of God, I have absolute confidence, absolute confidence, full assurance
of faith that all the blessings of God are mine in him. All the
blessings of the covenant All the blessings of the riches of
his grace are mine in Christ. For this gift of faith is what
the apostle calls in Colossians chapter 2, circumcision made
without hands by the Holy Spirit. In the new birth, we are circumcised
in the heart. You remember how God called Abraham,
made a covenant with Abraham, said, now this is the sign of
the covenant. You take every male child and circumcise him
on the eighth day. And every circumcised male child
has the promise of God given to Abraham made over to him.
So that ceremonially, symbolically, typically in the Old Testament,
those and those alone who had right to claim any inheritance
in the land of Israel were the sons of Abraham circumcised in
the flesh. And you and I, Only you and I
who are born of God, trusting Jesus Christ, have right to claim
any inheritance among the sons of God. How dare you presume
that heaven's glory is yours? Mark, that's not a presumption.
That's God's Word. This He gives to faith in His
Son. We were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Now watch this. which is the
earnest, the earnest of our inheritance. The earnest of our inheritance. I was flipping through channels
late the other night, and you fellas may have seen this. I
can't remember what it's called. Counting cars, I believe it's
called, one of those things, because I can't get any better
television programming. Anyway, this fella, he takes
old cars and fixes them up, and the folks bring them in and want
to fix them up. This fella giving him a deposit, and he had a 1960
Chevrolet station wagon. And the fellow wanted it fixed
up pink and blue for his fiancee. And then the girl left him. She
left him and he got stuck with the car, but he kept the deposit. He kept the deposit. That's the
word earnest right there. That's the word. He is the earnest. He's the deposit. He's the earnest
money. He's the down payment. He's the
pledge. The earnest of our inheritance. God the Holy Spirit giving us
life and faith in Christ is God's pledge of our eternal inheritance
in Christ Jesus unto the redemption of the purchased possession.
He's talking about the resurrection of the body. God gives us his
spirit, sealing to us all the blessings of grace, as the pledge
of heavenly glory, telling us these bodies, soon going to the
grave, shall rise up again in resurrection glory, according
to the riches of his grace, and to the redemption of the purchased
possession, to the praise of his glory. So that without the
sovereign gracious operations of God, the Holy Spirit in conversion,
no sinner would ever become the beneficiary of God's grace. Election, is that necessary to
salvation? Well, sure it is. Sure it is. You'd never be God's
if he didn't choose you. You wouldn't choose him or couldn't
choose him and had no right to choose him. But he chose you.
Redemption? Is that necessary? Well, of course
it is. Justice must be satisfied. Sin
must be put away. But something else is still required.
Not just righteousness performed outside you, not just righteousness
Accounted yours as though you were righteous. You must be made
righteous Created new in Jesus Christ given that new man Rex
read about in Romans chapter 7 created in righteousness and
in true holiness and this body this body this body of flesh
Rightly must go to the earth and dust to dust, ashes to ashes,
wind to wind. But this body shall be raised
again a righteous spiritual body. Imagine that. Imagine that. Serving God in a body of flesh
with no sin and no inclination towards sin no weakness for sin,
in perfect righteousness, because of the work of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead
are equally gracious, and all three to be equally praised. Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow. Praise Him, all creatures here
below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly
host. Praise Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Now let me give you something as you read through the scriptures
In this book every time you read of God the Father alone as He
gave the law of Mount Sinai or God the Son alone as he appears
in his second glorious advent or God the Spirit alone as he
is blasphemed by men in unbelief or Every time you see one person
of the Godhead represented alone, the result is always judgment.
But throughout this book, throughout the book, beginning in Genesis,
going through Revelation, every time Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
are mentioned together, every single time they're mentioned
together, the outcome is grace and salvation. This blessed revelation
of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one glorious God ought
to be that which inspires unity among true believers. In our
baptism, we publicly avowed our consecration to God as one people. Our commitment to the Father
the son and the spirit and our commitment to his church, his
body. Turn to John chapter 17, John
17. I'll wrap this up. Every thought about the Trinity
ought to stimulate in us a desire that we may be one. Even as God,
the father, God, the son and God, the Holy Spirit are one. Shelby and I have been married
44 years. 44 years. And love for one another causes
us to desire oneness. Oneness. Oneness that can't really
be explained except by someone who has the same passion. We
want to think alike. We want to behave alike. We want
to be one. Be one. Listen to me. Our Lord Jesus speaks in this
way concerning his church as he prays. John 17 verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe only through their word,
that they all may be one. As thou father art in me and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. Oh, spirit of God, make us one. Make us one. In this place, make
us one. One because we love one another,
but that's not really sufficient, is it? We're too selfish, too
self-centered. Make us one because we both love
one person, one we love ourselves, our Redeemer. Make us one that
the world may know. that the world may know that
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the triune God, has sent Christ,
the God-man mediator, into this world to redeem us. For Christ's
sake, as his children, as the children of God, for the glory
of God, let us pray for grace that we may learn by the grace
of God to be patient with one another, to esteem each the other
better than himself. to forgive one another, to forbear
one another, to treat one another with deference, deferring our
own wants to the others, deferring our own comforts to the other.
Soon, we shall be one in glory. Let us be one now. May God make
it so. ever understand, children of
God, that everything you and I do,
everything we do, has a bearing on somebody else. It has a bearing
on somebody else. I didn't get much out of that.
I'll not go next time. Somebody else needs for you to
be there. How many times have loyal Lindsey back yonder, one
of the most loyal men I've met in my life, How many times you've
been in services, been somewhere and didn't profit by it personally? Happens often. Sometimes it's
your fault, sometimes it's not. Happens often. Me too. But should
Diane and Michael and Michelle and those grandbabies see you
start to neglect the worship of God because you're selfish
and you don't get anything out of it, then you take Diane and
Michael and Michelle and those grandbabies And by your behavior,
lead them away from God. So you have a responsibility. I
have a responsibility for my influence on that man. I have
a responsibility for my influence on you. For my influence on your
sons and daughters and mine. And you do too. For the glory
of God and for the good of one another. Let us seek in all things
to live as one people in this generation, in the service of
our God. One in doctrine, one in heart,
one in purpose. One. For there are three that
bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Amen.