Turn with me today to 1 Peter
chapter 5. Let me read again verses 6 through
11. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all
grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Most of you know that I've been
preaching on Sunday mornings from the gospel according to
Mark. And we finished with chapter
7 last Sunday. And before we go on to chapter
8, I want to speak to us from this passage. And I want to talk
to us from the words in verse 10, the God of all grace. I want to speak to us on two
subjects in those words, God and grace. God and grace. So there's two parts to the message. First, God. That's a big subject. That's an infinite subject because
he is infinite. But I have three things here
this morning. First of all, God exists in a
trinity of persons. Now the Bible declares what all
men should know and must acknowledge, and that is, there's only one
God. The attributes of deity, his
omnipotence, his omniscience, that he knows all things, his
omnipresence, that he is everywhere present, and his immutability
declare the truth that there cannot be but one God. There's not room but for one
God. And he is a spirit, and he exists
according to the word of God in three persons. We speak of
his divine essence. That gives us some word by which
to speak of his being, his essence, his divine essence, though it
cannot be contained and should not be thought of as a body.
because we know that God is spirit. He is spirit, and yet he exists
in a trinity of persons. We know there's only one God
because he is the first cause of all. There can only be one
first cause, and God is the first cause of all, and he is independent
of all. All things and all beings owe
their existence to God. As far as men are concerned,
the scripture tells us that we all live, we all move, and we
all have our being in Him. That's you today. That's me. That's everyone on
the face of God's earth. We live, we move, and we have
our being in Him, and we live, as long as he gives us life. No longer. The scripture's very
clear that there's an appointment with death that all of us are
going to keep. But we speak of him because the
word of God reveals him in the scriptures as being three persons
in one divine essence. And that's very, very important
that we emphasize there's only one God. So when we speak about
the Trinity in the Godhead, we're not talking about three different
gods. We're talking about one God,
one divine essence, one spirit, and yet there are three distinct
persons in the divine essence. Now the plurality or the trinity
of persons in the one divine essence is revealed to us on
the first page of Holy Scripture. The first chapter in the book
of Genesis declares unto us in the creation, God speaking, the
spirit of the Lord moving upon the face of the water. All of
that reveals unto us that yes, God, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit all created all things that exist. And then, when we read about
the creation of men, the creation of man, I should say, that is
Adam, and we were all created in him. He was our representative
of all men, with the exception of the God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. but all men. He represented all
men, and yet with His creation, we see the Trinity because we
read there, let us. Now us is a plural pronoun, right? God didn't say, let me. No, He
said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. So we see the plurality there
in those pronouns, and yes, it's not by accident, surely, that
we see these three pronouns. Us, let us make man in our image
after our likeness. In the blessing that God gave
to the high priest of old for the nation of Israel, the blessing
that he was to put upon the people, and was especially told this
on the day, the great day of atonement. And I won't go through
that, but you know that was the only day in the year in which
the high priest went into the most holy place, and he never
went there without blood. First he went there for his own
sins, because he was a man, and then he took the blood of a goat
and went into that most holy place to make an atonement for
the nation of Israel. And then he came back out, put
his hands upon that scapegoat, that second goat, and confessed
all the sins, all the iniquities, all the transgressions, not of
the whole world, of course not, but of the nation of Israel.
And that goat then was led away, never to be seen again. Hallelujah. A picture of how the Lord Jesus
Christ bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree and
has taken them away. Taken them away. They're gone. He's removed them as far as the
east is from the west from His people. But then the high priest
was to put a blessing, God's blessing upon the nation of Israel.
And in the blessing we see the Trinity. Let me read it to us. The Lord, that's Jehovah, Jehovah
bless thee and keep thee. The Lord, that's Jehovah, make
his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord,
that's Jehovah, lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. You have your Bible open here
to 1 Peter. Turn over just a few pages into
the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 4 and verse 8. And this, of course,
is a scene in heaven. Revelation 4 and verse 8. And the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him. We cannot help but think of those
seraphim in Isaiah's vision. You know, with two he covered
his feet, with two he covered his face, with two he did fly. These seraphim, these beasts,
then they were full of eyes within. and they rest not day and night,
saying, holy, no, holy, holy, holy. They don't just say, holy. They don't just say, holy, holy. No, they say, holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. That's not by accident that those
seraphim cry out, holy, holy, holy, but it reminds us, it shows
us, it pitches to us. And there's so many examples
in the word of God. I don't have time to take us
to all of them this morning, but so many examples in the word
of God that God exists in a trinity of persons, father, son, and
holy spirit. when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared
unto his disciples after his crucifixion, after his resurrection,
and commanded them to go into all the world, teaching them
and baptizing them in the name, singular, in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. There's one God,
and yet he exists in a trinity of persons. Look over in I John,
between where we are in Peter and Revelation, look in I John
chapter 5 and verses 7 and 8. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word. John chapter 1 and
verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. There are three, there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one. Now notice the next verse. And
there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. There are three in heaven, which
we are told these three are one. There are three upon earth that
all witness, agree in the same witness. And we believe maybe
this refers to, first of all, the gospel. The gospel bears
witness to the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the
only Savior. The second witness is baptism. In baptism, we witness to God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And in the
Lord's table, we witness. There are three that bear witness,
agree in one. There are three that are one
in heaven. There are three that agree in
one upon the earth. And they all agree in the same
thing, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Amen. I want to call our attention
to one other place. As I said, there's so many verses
we could go to, but it would take all of my time. But I want
you to look with me in Isaiah chapter 63. In Isaiah chapter
63. Let's begin my reading in verse
seven. I will mention the loving kindnesses
of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that
the Lord hath bestowed on us and the great goodness toward
the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according
to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving
kindnesses. For he said, surely they are
my people, children that will not lie. So he was their father. In all their affliction, he was
afflicted. There's God the Father. But notice
this word, and. And the angel of his presence. Now, how many times does the
Son of God in the Old Testament appear as the angel of Jehovah,
the messenger of Jehovah? We have these pre-incarnate appearances
of the eternal Son of God in the Old Testament. Abraham was
sitting one day at his tent door, and here comes these three men
along. And Abraham received them, welcomed them into his tent or
his place there, and provided food for them. And then two of
them went on. Those were angels. But one of
them to whom Abraham worshiped was the angel of the Lord. And
the angel of the Lord told Abraham what he was going to do to Sodom
and Gomorrah. So here in this text here, we
see the father 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, here's God the Holy
Spirit. They rebelled and vexed his Holy
Spirit. Therefore, he was turned to be
their enemy and he fought against them. Someone might say, well,
preacher, you're preaching to the choir. You're preaching to
the choir when you're preaching to this group of people that
God exists in a trinity of persons. And I say amen. And I'm so thankful
that I am. Because there is a lie. It's
been around a long time. It's not a new lie. It's not
a new era that teaches that there's only one person in the Godhead
that sometimes he exists as the father and sometimes as the son,
and they have the son praying to the father. It's called modulism,
but that's a different God. The reason I said I'm glad I'm
preaching to the choir this morning is because if we do not recognize
and worship God as a trinity of persons, we're worshiping
a different God. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, there's
one God, and yes, He exists in a trinity of persons. Now the second part, God in the
trinity of persons is engaged in man's salvation. Let me say
that again. First I said God exists in a
trinity of persons. Number two, God in the trinity
of persons is engaged in man's salvation. when Jonah declared,
salvation is of the Lord. That's Jehovah. Salvation is
of the Lord. That means that each person in
the Godhead has a part in man's salvation. Now, we know that
the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, shed his blood, redeemed
us from all iniquity, and men are sometimes more prone to give
more credit or more glory to man's salvation to God the Son,
but that should not be so. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit all, all have a hand in man's salvation. Now that which is normally attributed
to the Father, election. Election is the work of the Father. In Ephesians chapter one and
verses three through four. Now that doesn't mean that the
Son and God the Holy Spirit did not also have a part in man's
election, because they're one. But the Father, this work of
election, choosing out, whom he would save. This is the work
that's usually attributed to God the Father. Ephesians 1,
verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Now listen, according
as he, the Father, as he have chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. So in this matter of salvation,
election is attributed most of the time, not exclusively. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you. But most often, this is the work
of God the Father. Redemption. Redemption is the
work of God the Son. It is the Son who was sent to
be the Savior. For God so loved the world that
He gave, the Father gave His only begotten Son. The scripture says in Galatians,
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son. We see the son being sent, the
father sending. Christ is the gift, the father
giving. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. The son of God
became the son of man. He took unto himself a body. Now the father did not become
flesh. The Holy Spirit did not become
flesh. No, it was the Son of God, the
person of the Son who took into union with Himself the body which
God the Holy Spirit had prepared of the Virgin Mary. He took this
body that was prepared Him in which He obeyed God perfectly. If anyone's going to be saved,
There must be a perfect, acceptable obedience and sacrifice to God
the Father. And since all men by nature have
disobeyed God, God the Son became a man and perfectly, absolutely
obeyed God in every way, in every thought, in every thought. You ever have
to take back a word? You ever speak a word that you
wish you hadn't have spoken? You ever have to confess to God,
God forgive me, I should not have said that. Lord Jesus Christ
perfectly obeyed God. Every thought, never had a sinful
thought, never had an envious thought, never had a lustful
thought. Perfect, holy, holy. Not only in thought, but word,
but in deed. The scripture commands that we
are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all
our mind. Have you done that? Of course
you haven't. We're to love our neighbor as
ourself. You do that? You say, well, I
try. That's not what the command said.
The command doesn't say try. The command doesn't say do the
best you can. No, the command says love God
with all your heart, soul, and being. Love your neighbor as
yourself. He did. He did. And not only that, but then he paid
the penalty for his people who had broken God's holy law. And that penalty was death. God
the Son redeemed his people. And then third, the quickening
is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Remember Paul wrote to the Ephesians
and to the believers in the church and he said, and you hath he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. A person must trust
in Christ, but how can a dead person trust in Christ? How can
a dead person believe Christ? Well, he can't. You see the work
of God the Father in choosing God the Son and redeeming and
God the Holy Spirit and quickening that each person in the Godhead
has a part in man's salvation? Our Lord said to Nicodemus, he
was a religious man and he was a leader among the Jewish people. But our Lord told him, Nicodemus,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
He cannot perceive. He cannot understand the things
of God. Why? Because he's dead spiritually. Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And then our Lord uses the wind
as a type, and that's the same word. The same word for spirit
is the word for wind. And the wind bloweth where it
listeth, our Lord said. You can't tell from where it
came nor where it's going. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, he's the
one who quickens those that the Father has chosen, those whom
the Son has redeemed. He quickens and gives life, which
is then evidenced. When the Holy Spirit quickens
and gives life to a sinner, that life is then evidenced by faith
in Christ. by believing in Christ, trusting
in Christ. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? I've spoken with people over
the years, and it's not unusual that God's people have doubts
and have fears. But the ones I've spoken with,
I've always asked, are you saying you do not believe that Jesus
is the Christ? Oh, no, I'm not saying that.
I'm talking about preachers that I've spoken with. And I'm a preacher,
and I know something about this myself. There's not a doubt, is there? If you've been born of the Spirit
of God, there's not a doubt. They might convince you the world's
flat, but they'll never convince you that Jesus is not the Christ,
the Son of God. Not if you've been born of God.
No way, no way. One old preacher said this, he
said, every sermon should contain three R's. The three R's. Every
sermon should contain the three R's. The three R's are, first
of all, ruined, R-U-I-N-E-D, ruined in the fall. The second
R is redeemed by the blood. And the third R is regeneration
by the Spirit of God. Every sermon should contain the
three R's. Now here's the third point under
this, God. God in the trinity of his persons
has a special relationship to every child of God. God the Father bears the relationship
of Father to every believer. Look with me in John chapter
20. John chapter 20. John chapter 20 and verse 17,
the Lord Jesus speaking to Mary Magdalene, John chapter 20 and
verse 17, Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I'm not yet
ascended to my father, but go, now watch this, to my brethren
and say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father, and
to my God and your God. I remember reading several years
ago in a message by a pastor who's long been dead, an English
pastor. His writings was always a blessing
to me, but he pointed out the fact that not every person has
a good memory of their father. And we know that's true, that
some fathers are abusers, some physical abuse, sexual abuse. Just all kinds of abuse that
some children experience at the hands of a father. And so when
we read here that he's our father, not everyone that we're preaching
to has a good memory of their father. But this is the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's who our father is. That's who the child of God's
father is. And being children of God, we
are objects of his fatherly love and his continuous care. As a
father, he guides us by his word. He guards us by his power. Angels of God encamp round about
us. The Lord Jesus said one day to
some people, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father
give good things to them that ask him? The fathers here in this building,
I know, I thank everyone, and I know that you'd do anything
you could for your children. You love them, you care for them, If we being evil, and we are, would give good things to our
children, how much more, your Heavenly Father? When, I ask
myself this question, when am I ever going to come to the place
to trust God like I should? My Heavenly Father. He has more
concern and more care for his children than any of us human
fathers could ever possibly have for our children. And yet we
doubt, don't we? And we get anxious, and we get
fearful. God's your father. He's your
father. Now he does discipline his children,
chastise his children, as every loving father will do, but he
will never, ever discipline his children as their judge, but
as their father. The judge, you see, is for criminals,
but he's not dealing with us any longer as criminals, but
as his children. God the Son, now notice the second
thing, God the Son bears the relationship of husband to every
believer. Now I want you to see this. This
is the last place I'll have you turn, but look in Romans chapter
7. So God the Father is our Father,
and God the Son The Lord Jesus Christ, he bears a relationship
of husband to every one of his children. Everyone who trusts
in him. In Romans chapter seven and verse
four, the apostle says, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become
dead to the law by the body of Christ. Now notice this, how
did we become dead to the law? by the body of Christ, by the
death of Christ. We become dead to the law by
the body of Christ. In order that, in order that,
you should be married to another. Well, who is this to whom we're
now married? Even to him who is raised from
the dead. Who's that? You know who that
is. the first begotten from the dead,
Jesus Christ. You're married to him. That,
in order that, you should bring fruit unto God. You see, a lost
person can never bring forth fruit unto God. He doesn't have
the Spirit of God. And everything that is accepted
by God as a good work is something that must be for God's glory. For God's glory. And according
to His Word, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who
was raised from the dead, and He's every believer's husband. Now, the husband and wife relationship
speaks to us, first of all, of love, of love. It speaks to us
of union, the two become one. And it speaks to us of mutual
delight in one another. Do Christ and his bride, that
is his church, every believer, do Christ and his bride delight
in each other? You better believe they do. You
better believe they do. She says of him, He's altogether
lovely. That's what the church says about
her husband. He's altogether lovely. Nothing but loveliness in Christ,
my Lord, my Savior, my husband, who that loved me and gave himself
for me. He's altogether lovely. What
does he, the bridegroom, say about his wife? Now listen, thou
art all fair, my love. There's no spot in thee. Thou
art all fair, my love. There's no spot in thee. When I had a cataract removed
a few months ago now, one of the things that I noticed, because
my left eye, the sighted, deteriorated quite a bit. And the first day
when I went into the restroom at home, went into the bathroom
there and looked at the mirror, man, I saw these spots up here
on top of my head. I didn't know those were there.
And when I look into the word of God as a child of God, that's
all I see. Spots and wrinkles and myself,
that's all I see. And I tell you, my husband, he
doesn't see any spot, any wrinkle, any flaw in me or in you or in
any of his blood-bought, blood-washed children. They're gone. And then God, the Holy Spirit,
bears a relationship of comforter to every believer. As our comforter,
he comes to us as a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. And it is as a spirit of adoption
that he reveals unto us that we have an inheritance, an inheritance
that is reserved for us in heaven. And nothing can take that inheritance
from us. God. Now the second part, grace. And I'll just say this, the term
grace means favor. And in the word of God, grace
is opposite to works. It's opposite to works and it's
opposite to worthiness. If you start talking about worthiness,
grace leaves the scene. For by grace are you saved, not
by any work, not by any worthiness, no, no. For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Amen. I'm gonna quit. If this was the last message
that I ever preach, I'm happy with the message, but I want
to say this, as Brother Ivan sang just a few minutes ago,
the only fitness he requires is to know your need of him. Do you need a Savior? Do you
need a sacrifice to put your sins away? There's only one. Come ye sinners, lost and helpless. He will embrace you in his arms. Oh, there are 10,000 charms in
Christ our Savior. Let's sing a hymn and be dismissed. Number 323, more love to thee,
more love to thee. Number 323.