I thought of something when Bill said he was going to get
even with me for that. Years ago, I was in a meeting up in Lewisburg,
Pennsylvania, preaching for Pastor Sam Kintner. Sam was pastor of
the church in Lewisburg. And John Thornberry was pastor
of the church south of Lewisburg in Winfield, Pennsylvania, only
seven or eight miles from Lewisburg. And we had both churches assembled
there at Lewisburg. Sam was leading the singing,
John was playing the piano, and I was doing the preaching. We
was having a good week. Sam started leading a song one
night, and they went through the first verse, and then he
turned to John. And he said, John, would you
like to sing that second verse for us? And John said, no. And he got real, Sam just stood
there in shock. And he said, you wouldn't? John
said, no. Well, he said, let's all sing it then. After the service, I said, John,
what did you do that for? He said, I've been thinking about
doing that to him for a long time. He does that to me all
the time. He said he won't tell me before
the service that I'm supposed to sing. Well, everybody gets
there. And I sit down at the piano,
and then he'll say, will you sing? He'll say, I'll teach him
a lesson. So we all need to be taught those
lessons. I'll be looking for you to do
that. Let's look at 1 John 5, verse
7. And what you all don't know,
he will do it. 1 John 5, 7. Now, actually, the word Trinity. The word Trinity does not occur
in the Scriptures. It's not in there anywhere. Nor
is God called in the Scriptures a three-in-one. Nor is He called
one-in-three. But for that matter, the word
substitute is not in the Scriptures. It doesn't occur in the Word
of God. Substitute is not in the Word of God. The word substitution
is not in the Scripture. But the truth of substitution
is. In fact, Brother Payne has a
Bible. I was in his home one time and
I saw his Bible and he had all the way through, I think this
was your Bible, he had written substitution all the way through,
where there was Scripture referring to substitution, he had it on
nearly every page. So the truth of substitution
is taught throughout the Scripture. Even so, the Word of God clearly
teaches, clearly teaches, though the Word Trinity is not in the
Bible, though the Word 3 in 1 is not in the Bible, though the
Word 1 in 3 is not in the Bible, the Bible clearly teaches that
the living God is one God. One God. The Lord our God is
one God. And the Scriptures clearly teach
that Jesus of Nazareth is truly God. In his divine nature, he
is truly God, and yet, Tom, he is a distinct person from the
Father. The Bible teaches that. He is
truly God, and yet he is a distinct person from the Heavenly Father. And the Scriptures teach, thirdly,
that the Holy Spirit is truly God. The Holy Spirit is truly
God, called the Holy Ghost And the Holy Spirit, he's truly God,
and yet the Holy Spirit is not an influence, not an it, the
Holy Spirit is a person. One does not have to have a body
to be a person. The Holy Spirit is a person.
And the Bible clearly teaches that there is a trinity of persons
in the Godhead. Now here in our text, which Bill
read a few moments ago, verse 7 of 1 John 5, it says, For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Now I plan tonight, this will
be a little different type of message from what I usually bring. If you have a pencil and paper
or a ballpoint pen and paper, I think it would be profitable
for you if you jotted down these questions I'm going to ask. I'm
going to bring a message with ten questions about the Trinity. That's the title of the message,
Questions About the Trinity. And I'm going to ask these ten
questions and answer them from the Word of God. I think it was
helpful to me. I sat down with with a book and
with a pamphlet written by Brother McKinley, McKinney from Texas,
Tyler, Texas. And I spent a lot of time with
this, and I brought it down into a brief 30 or 35-minute message
of 10 questions, and I think it will be very, very helpful
to you in regard to the subject of the Trinity. Now, here is
the first question. Number one, does the Bible teach? that God is one person. Does
the Bible teach, now watch it carefully, be careful, I'm not
being tricky, but does the Bible teach that God is one person? No, it does not. It teaches he's
one God, but not one person. Now I'll show you that. First,
write down and turn to Genesis 1, 26. The Bible does not teach
that God is one person. In Genesis 1, verse 26, listen
to the scripture. And God said, let us make man,
that's plural, isn't it? Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. To whom was he speaking? Well,
he certainly wasn't speaking to the angel or the seraphim
or cherubim. He said, let us make man, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. All right, let me give you another.
Isaiah 6, verse 8. Here's another scripture that
you'll want to study. The 6th chapter of Isaiah, and
the verse is number 8. And it says here, And I heard
the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will
go for us? He's speaking to Isaiah there
in the year that he saw the Lord. Who will go for us?" Then said
I, here am I, send me. Now one other, here in John 14,
John 14, verse 16 and 17, the book of John, chapter 14, verse
16 and 17, and you'll note that I'm using Scripture both from
the Old Testament and the New Testament. In John 14, verse
16, now here our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples.
before he ascended back to the Father. And he said in John 14,
verse 16, And I will pray the Father, and he will give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him. For he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. The Bible teaches
that there is one God. three persons. The Son said,
I will pray to the Father, and the Father will send you the
Holy Spirit. Let us make man. Or question
number two. Does the Bible teach that there
is a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Does the Bible teach that there
is a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Yes, most definitely it does.
Most definitely. Without question. In Matthew
chapter three, Matthew, the third chapter. And when I get through
with this message, you're going to wonder, where in the world
do people get the idea that there is no Trinity, that these Jesus-only
people? I don't know. When there's so
much Scripture, it's all conclusive. It's like the subject election.
It's all the way through the Word of God, God's sovereign
consolidation. Now look at Matthew 3, verse
13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized of thee, comest thou to me? And
Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus
it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered
him, he baptized him. And when Jesus was baptized,
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water, and, lo, the heavens opened, they were opened unto him, and
he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon
him, and a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased." You have the Father speaking from
heaven, you have the Son standing in the Jordan River, and you
remember the Lord said to Simeon, upon whom you see the Holy Spirit
descending, that's the Son of God, the Lamb of God. and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. That's what the Master said.
All right, one other scripture, John 15, verse 16. And it says here, the Lord Jesus
speaking, ìYou have not chosen me, but I have chosen John 15,
26, I beg your pardon. John 15, 26. But when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he will testify
of me. Now you've got the blessed Trinity. All right, the third question.
Do you have those two? The first one, does the Bible
teach that God is one person? It does not. One God, the three
persons. Does the Bible teach there is
a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? It certainly does. Well, here's
the third question. Is the word one, O-N-E, is it
used in the Bible in reference to God? Is the word one, God
is one? Now, these are the scriptures
that anti-Trinitarians used to battle a subject of the Trinity.
Say, how can God be one and yet three? Is the word one used in
the Bible in reference to God? Many times. Many times. Let's look at Zechariah in the
Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 14. The word
one is used many times in the Word of God referring to our
God. In Zechariah chapter 14 verse
9, listen. And the Lord shall be king over
all the earth. In that day shall there be one
Lord and his name one. One. All right, let's try Mark
12 in the New Testament. I'm not going to read, but just
two of these because there's so many of them. God referred
to as one, Mark 12, verse 29. And Jesus answered him, the first
of all commandments, in Mark 12, 29, do you have it? The first
of all commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord. But now the word one in these
scriptures and others in reference to God That denotes, Charlie,
unity and not unit. It denotes unity. Now, that's
important. It denotes unity. The Lord our
God is one God in heart, in purpose, in unity, in goal, in covenant. He's one. And I'll show you some
more scripture. Well, now watch this. John 10, verse 30. Turn over
there just a minute. Let me show you this. Bill, this is so powerful right
here. When you're talking about the Lord our God is one Lord,
His name is one, and yet Jesus Christ our Lord said in John
10, 30. John 10, 30. Did you have that? Ron, read
that out loud. In John 10, 30. Read that. He didn't say, I and my Father
are one. He didn't say, I and my Father
is one. He said, are. Two persons are
one. Are one. I and my Father are
one. Two persons are one. That's what
Christ said. I and my Father are one. So this
one denotes a unity. Not unit. What they say is you can't have
Jesus and have a Father and Holy Spirit. You can't have a Father
and have Jesus and Holy Spirit. Why not? They are one. They are
unity in heart. Listen to this. Let me show you
two other scriptures. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3, verse 8. 1 Corinthians
3, verse 8. Listen to this. Paul is talking
about preachers here. Somebody said, We are of Paul.
One says, I am of Apollos. One says, I am of Cephas. And
Paul said now, verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 3, He that planteth and he that
watereth are one. What did he mean by that? That
he's Apollos and Apollos is Paul? No. There's Paul, there's Apollos,
and there's Cephas, but they are one. They're one in unity. They're one in purpose. They're
one in goal. And Christ said, I and my Father
are one. How about John 17? Listen to
this scripture. In John 17, verse 21, our Lord
Jesus is talking about us, talking about the believers. In John
17, verse 21, he says this, talking about all that come to him, all
that we're given him of the Father, he said, verse 21 of John 17,
that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us. I'll tell you this,
and I don't know how to explain this, but in glory we're going
to be like our Lord, conformed to the image of our Lord. We're
going to be so one with him in unity, in spirit, in heart, in
love, in all things that we cannot be separated. We're going to
be one as the Father and the Son are one. How that can be? And yet there are so many opposites.
as the stars of the heavens, the sands of the seashore, and
yet we're going to be one. And that's the Trinity. The Bible
does teach us Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three persons, and yet
they are one. One in unity, one in heart, one
in purpose, one in objectives, one in goal. They are one. One in a covenant. All right,
the fourth question. I hear people say, well, I just
can't accept what I can't understand. And you just have to throw all
the scripture away. The fifth, fourth question is,
can any man understand the Trinity? Well, the answer is no. I certainly
don't need a God that I can understand. I don't need a God that I can
understand. In turn to Psalm 89, verse 6. In Psalm 89, verse 6, listen
to this scripture. And we must be careful trying
to compare God with humanity. God said, you thought I was altogether
such as one as yourself. You're bringing God down to our
level of thoughts or understanding. Look at Psalm 89, 6. For who
in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who of all the
heavenly creatures can be compared unto the Lord? How are you going
to compare Him? And who among the sons of the mighty can be
likened unto the Lord? There is no one in heaven or
earth to whom we can compare the Lord. And then look at Job
11, in the book of Job chapter 11. The scripture says this in
Job 11 verse 7. Can you by searching find out
God? Can you find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It's high as the heaven. What
can you do? It's deeper than hell. What can
you know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea. In one other verse on
this, I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. I can't explain to you the Trinity. I can preach the Trinity, but
I cannot explain it. We can receive the belief in
the Trinity by faith, but we cannot explain it. Isaiah 46,
verse 4, And even to your old age I am He, and even to white
hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear,
Even I will carry and will deliver you, but to whom will you liken
me, and make me equal, and compare me that we may be like?" Is there
any one or thing to which you can compare God? Here is the fifth question. Does
the Bible teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
are three distinct who are one God and possess the
same essence. Does the Bible really teach that?
Brother Mann, can you turn in the Bible and find for me scripture
which teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
are three distinct persons and yet they are one God and they
possess the same essence? I believe that I can. And we'll
have to turn to several verses. If you want to, just jot these
down and don't turn and just listen while I read them. The
first one is John 3, verse 35. One person of the Godhead is
said to love the other. Here are three distinct persons,
and yet of the same essence, and yet one God. In John 3, verse
35, he says, The Father loves the Son. That's a distinct person. The Father loves the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand. And then in Matthew 11,
27, it says that one person in the Trinity knows the other person. In Matthew 11, 27, listen to
this. One person knows the other. All
things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knows
the Son, but the Father neither knows any man, nor doth any man
the Father save the Son. The Son knows the Father, and
the Father knows the Son. And the Father loves the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. Watch this, one person
addresses the other. You can quote this in Hebrews
1 verse 8, But to the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is
forever. The Father addresses that person. And yet of the same essence,
the Father calls the Son God. He says, The Father who is God
says to the Son who is God, Thy throne, O God, is forever. One
person sins another. Look at John 14, 26. One person
sins the other person. In John 14, verse 26. And people say, let's talk the hand.
So that just can't be. Why can't it be? He's God. Can't
explain. That's what Job says. Or David
said, to whom shall ye liken God? And the reason we say that
can't be is we have nothing to compare Him with. Something we've
never seen or heard or imagined or have anything to compare it
with, we throw up our hands and say it can't be. That's the only
God I want, is one that humanly can't be. Naturally can't be. Supernaturally God. In John 14,
verse 26, listen. But the Comforter, who is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send. Here is one person in the
Godhead sending another. What does Christ say? As my Father
sent me, so send I you. So send I you. One person glorifies
another in the Trinity. You know that verse in John 17,
verse 4, when Christ said, Father, I have glorified thee on the
earth. Glorify me with the glory which
I had with thee." And then when he said, the Holy Spirit is going
to come and he'll glorify me, and yet they're one. And yet
they're one. I go back over that fourth, and
one person loves another, one person knows another, one person
addresses another, and one person sins another. That is God. That's what Scripture teaches.
three distinct persons, and yet they're one. John 14, you're
already there. Look at verse 8 and 10. Philip
said unto him, Show us the Father, and it will suffice us. And Jesus
said, Have I been so long time with you, and yet you have not
known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
my Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me?" I'll give you another
verse on that. In John 10, 38, or rather, beg
your pardon, Philippians 2, 5. It says here in Philippians 2,
5, talking about our Redeemer, it says, Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ, who, being in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be what? Equal. Equal with God. Now, the believer is in Christ,
but the believer is not Christ, and Christ is not the believer.
Christ is in the believer, and the believer is in Christ, but
the believer is not Christ, and Christ is not the believer. The
Father regards them as one, the Father loves them as one, the
Father accepts them as one, the Father accepts me in Christ,
and without any loss of identity. When I believe the Son, I believe
the Father. And when I believe the Father,
I believe the Son. You cannot have one without the other. You
cannot have a third of a God. That's absolutely true. All right,
here is the sixth question. Did God have a son before Jesus
Christ was born in Bethlehem? That's a good question. Did God
have a son before Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem? Well,
certainly. Certainly. Turn to Proverbs 30,
verse 4. Proverbs 30, verse 4. Proverbs
30, verse 4. This is a good scripture here.
Who hath ascended up to heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in
his fist? Who hath bound the waters in
a garment? Who hath established all the
ends of the earth? What is his name? And what's
his son's name, if you can tell? What's he called? The everlasting
father, you can't be an everlasting father unless you've got an everlasting
son. I've been a father 30, almost 37 years. I wasn't a father before
that. I wasn't a father until my first
son was born. But the father is the eternal
father. Because he's the father of the eternal son. And I cannot
explain that relationship. I don't even make an effort to
explain it. I just know that it's true. I
just know this truth. In 1 John chapter 2, now here
is the danger of denying it. Here is the danger of denying
it, and I tell you, don't, don't, don't, 1 John 2 verse 22, don't
fool around with folks that trifle with such a powerful truth. Don't fool around with those
that want to deny it or explain it away, because it says, who
is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ, he is an antichrist, and he denies the Father and
the Son. It's dangerous. I'll show you
another scripture in 2 John 9, in 2 John verse 9. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ." And my friend, the doctrine of
Christ goes a lot further than just teaching that there was
a man on the earth who called himself Jesus Christ who died
on the cross. The doctrine of Christ is talking
about the doctrine of Christ as the eternal God. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. It comes down
to all the types that picture Christ and his saving work. It comes to his incarnation,
it comes to his mediatorial work, his intercession, his eternal
glory. He had made this same Jesus Lord
and Christ and highly exalted him that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow. So the doctrine of Christ is a lot more than just believing
he died on the cross of Baird and Rose again. It has to do
with who he is yesterday, today, and forever, and what he did,
and why he did it, and where he is. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he has both Father and the Son. He has both
the Father and the Son. And let me ask, under that same
heading, this is under question six, Christ never did say, I am the
Father. You recall Him ever saying, He
said, I am the Father of one, but He never said, I am the Father.
He said, He has seen me, has seen the Father, but He never
said, I am the Father. And the Bible never calls the
Father Jesus. The Father is never called Jesus.
And the Holy Spirit is never called Jesus. And Jesus is not
His own Father. Look at Luke 1.35. Now, this
is very distinct here. This is the angel talking to
Mary. Christ is not his own Father.
He's the only begotten Son of God. And it says in Luke 1, verse
34, listen to this. Then said Mary unto the angel.
The angel said she was going to have a son. She said, How
can this be? I know not a man. And the angel
said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. and the
power of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing." Someone suggested one time that the angel was very
selective in that word, because he didn't say the holy boy or
baby or child or man or person. He said holy thing. There's nothing
with which to describe it. The holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Well, here's
the seventh question. And I wish that I could stress
this so strongly here, because our relationship with God has
to do with our thoughts of Christ. Our Lord asked the people He
was preaching to, what think ye of Christ? And I can bring
you to sign creeds and catechisms statements of faith and all that,
but what you think of Christ is another issue, another question.
What do you honestly, personally think of Christ? And that's the
basis on which God will deal with you. What do you think of
Christ? The idea you entertain of Christ. You see, your attitude
toward your works, toward your self-righteousness, toward yourself,
toward God, toward eternity, toward everything, depends on
what you think of Christ. And I'm saying that as Thomas
said, he's my Lord and my God. I don't even hesitate there. My Lord and my God. I bow before
him and worship him. Here's the seventh question.
Does Jesus Christ possess all the attributes of deity? All of them don't matter. He's
not a subordinate deity. God. Let all the angels of God
worship him, God said. I'll give you several scriptures.
John 1, 1 and 2, you know, in the beginning was the Word, the
Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1, 14, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Acts 20, verse
28, feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood,
the church of God. Hebrews 1.8, Thy throne, O God,
is forever. 1 Timothy 3.16, Great is the
mystery of godliness, God was manifest in human flesh. Here are the attributes of deity,
basically five or six, I'll give you five. What we call attributes
are characteristics or character. The attributes of God are the
character that God possesses, characteristic. One attribute
of God that no one can possess but God is eternality. In the beginning, God. God is
eternal. Nothing else is eternal. No one,
nothing else. Is Jesus Christ eternal? Well,
John 8, verse 58 says He is. John 8, verse 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, and he uses that
classic word, I am. He never says, I was. I am. Eternally. Eternality. I am. I am. Revelation 1 And that's the word
that God used to identify Himself. When Moses asked Him, I go down
there in Egypt and they say, who sent me? He said, you tell
them, I am. And that's who Christ says He
is, I am. Now, Revelation 1, 8 is tremendous. Christ is speaking
here. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is which was, which is
to come. The Almighty. The Almighty. That's my theology. I won't have
you in trouble praising Him as such in glory because that's
the way I feel now. The second characteristic or
attribute only can be said of God is immutability. That's a big word for He never
changes. God never changes. Everything
else does, change and decay, and all around I see, O thou
that changest not." And that's in Malachi where he said, I am
the Lord, I change not. You say, what's that got to do
with Christ? Hebrews 13a, Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today,
and forever. Yesterday, today, and forever,
eternally. Here's the third attribute, only belongs to God, omnipresence. Omnipresence, that is God's everywhere. He's everywhere at the same time.
Where does it say Jesus Christ was everywhere? Try John 3, verse
13. John 3, verse 13. Let's see what
that says. And Christ is speaking here.
He said, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is where? In heaven. Scripture says He was in the
bosom of the Father when He was right here on this earth. He
said to one of the disciples, before Philip called thee, I
saw thee on the fig tree. I was right there with you. He
said to his church, lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of
the earth. He says, where two or three are met in my name,
I'll be in their midst. How can that be? Omnipresent. Omnipresent. All right, another
is omniscience. He knows everything. You're right
there, John 3, look right up above there. It said in John 2, verse 23,
when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus
did not commit himself to them because he knew all. That word
means in italics, he knew all. How many times have you read
the scripture of Jesus knowing their thoughts? When Peter came
to him and said, those fellows won't know if we pay tribute
to the temple. Christ said, there's a fish out
there in the sea with a coin in its mouth. Go catch it. He
knows everything. Our Lord knows everything. Here's
the fifth attribute only God possesses. Omnipotence. Almighty. Is that Christ? In Matthew 28, 18, he said, all
authority, power is given unto me in heaven and earth. all power. You see, no one possesses those
attributes, child, except God. Eternality, unchangeableness,
immutability, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, only God. And every
one of them, Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus of Nazareth possesses. He's God. All right. Eighth question, is the Holy
Spirit a person? Is he a person? Yes, he is. He's
called God in Acts 5, 3 and 4. Turn over there, William, all
the way through the scripture, he's called the Holy Spirit of God,
or the Spirit of God. But here in Acts 5, verse 3, Peter said, Ananias, Acts 5,
3, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
to lie to, to deceive the Holy Ghost, to keep back part of the
price of the land while it remained? Was it not your own? When it
was soul, was it not your own power, in your own power? Why
have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied
unto men, but unto God." In the same sentence, he said, you lied
to the Holy Ghost, you've lied to God. The Holy Ghost is God. You say, but you call the Holy
Spirit a person. And I said a while ago, you don't
have to have a body to be a person. When the rich man was in hell,
he was a person, but he left his body in the grave. One day
I'll leave my body in the grave and I won't cease to be a person.
But God is a spirit. And I'll give you some of the
personal properties of the Holy Spirit. Number one, the Holy
Spirit knows. The Holy Spirit knows. He's a
person in that he knows. 1 Corinthians 2, 10 and 11. said,
No man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man
that is in him. Even so, no man knoweth the things of God, except
the Spirit of God. He wills. 1 Corinthians 12, 11,
The Holy Spirit giveth to whom he wills, severally as he wills. The Holy Spirit has a will. A
person has a will. Fourthly, the Holy Spirit testifies. John 16, 13, He will testify
of me. A person testifies. And fourthly,
the Holy Spirit, the Scripture says, is vexed. He's made angry. You've vexed
the Holy Spirit of God. Isaiah 63, verse 10. You've made angry the Holy Spirit
of God. Now, turn to Romans 8, 6. Romans 8, 6. Under that same
question, now, number 8, is the Holy Spirit a person? In Romans
chapter 8, I beg your pardon, it's verse 26. Romans 8, verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. We know not what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit, and that ought to be himself,
I believe, maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot
be uttered. Now, he is a person because he
intercedes. He prays. He is a person distinct
from the Father, I find out from this verse, because to whom does
he pray? See what I'm talking about? The
Holy Spirit intercedes for us. To whom? The Father. He's a person
distinct. He is God. All right, here's
the ninth question. These next two are very brief.
The ninth question is this. Do the blessed persons of the
Trinity, do they possess self-awareness? Now, we certainly do. I have
a self-awareness. You do too. I have a self-awareness. I have
an awareness of my relationship with you and yours with me. I
have an awareness of my relationship with God. Self-awareness. That's what I'm talking about.
A person has self-awareness. We find that proven in these
scriptures. And I didn't jot down the scriptures.
I just wrote them out. The Father said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. The Father has an awareness of
himself and his Son. And this is my Son, and I'm pleased
with him. The Lord Jesus Christ has a self-awareness. In John 17, he prayed, and now,
Father, Glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. And I'll tell you a self-awareness
when he screamed from that cross, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Is that not self-awareness? And then the Holy Ghost, our
Lord Jesus said of him, he will not speak of himself. He has
an awareness of his duty. He has an awareness of his task
is to glorify Christ. I wish we preachers had as much
awareness of our tasks and our persons as the Holy Spirit does.
For he said he'll not speak of himself, he'll not dare suffer
himself to be glorified, he will take the things of mine and show
them to you. And then my last point, I've
dealt with it all the way through, because I think it's important
for us to understand, because we're so earthbound and so fleshly-minded,
the tenth question, is it necessary to have a body to be considered
a person? And the answer is no. But Hebrews
10.5 says this. Now this is interesting here
and something some of you can work on later. Hebrews 10.5,
the Lord Jesus, in Hebrews 10.5, Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thy wood is not But a body thou hast prepared me, a body thou
hast prepared me, prepared a body for him. So you don't have to
have a body to be a him, to be a person. God is a spirit. They that worship him, worship
him in spirit and truth.