Jack Hibbs emphasizes the essential doctrine of the Trinity in his sermon, explaining that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ. He highlights the importance of understanding the nature of God as one essence in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hibbs addresses common misconceptions and the resistance to this doctrine, urging believers to grasp its significance for their faith. He illustrates the unity and purpose of the Trinity through various scripture references, reinforcing that this mystery is foundational to Christian belief. Ultimately, Hibbs calls for a deeper understanding of God's nature and encourages believers to seek Him wholeheartedly.

Turn, as you know, to Colossians chapter 2, verse 9, as we continue our study together. And we are looking at, this morning, Christ and the Trinity. And we are going to be setting our plow deep this morning in the study of the word. I want to repeat that. I know you're turning in your pages and you're getting into position. If you're visiting Calvary Chapel for the first time this morning, I don't want to know it. I'm glad that you're here, but I don't want to be distracted with the fact that maybe you're new. Maybe you're new to Christianity or maybe you're considering Christianity. I don't know. Maybe you're in a cult. Well, you've certainly picked the right day to come here. My prayer and my heart's desire is that this message would come across as clear as is spiritually possible. I've studied so much for this message and every time I study too much, that usually turns out to be a disaster for you. I've got so much in my head. How it's going to come out, I don't exactly know. But it's important, and the reason why I'm stressing this this morning is because the doctrine of the Trinity is essential to Christian faith. It is one of those few things out of what is considered the creed or Christian essentials that sets us apart from all other belief system in the world. And in Colossians 2, verse 9, as you see, it says, for in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead, or we could insert Trinity, dwells in bodily form. And we do no harm to the text by saying so in that fashion. Christ and the Trinity. It is literally the study of the fellowship of the eternal Godhead. The Bible makes it clear, and we'll see this morning, that there are many passages of Scripture that tell us that there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet this doctrine is vehemently resisted at your doorstep with various cults that might visit your house. Or maybe brand new Christians don't quite understand it. Maybe they haven't read about it. But once they read the Scripture from cover to cover, they come to the understanding. Now let me say something here, and I don't want you to think that I'm trying to set up some kind of a blanket statement that if you don't get this morning's teaching, then something's wrong with you. I'm not saying that. But I will say this. Concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, as so concerning the doctrine of the church. How is it that the church, it says, is the body of Christ? Paul the Apostle says concerning that truth, it's a mystery. Now that word mystery doesn't mean that it's something that you can never know. The word in Greek means a mystery that from this point previously has been unknowable. It has been hidden. It's a truth that has always existed, but has never been revealed. And Paul makes that clear in the book of Ephesians chapter five. Well, concerning this mystery of the Trinity, there are hints of it in the Old Testament. We'll see some this morning. But it is a mystery as the Scripture speaks. Paul says this in Corinthians, that the Trinity, even though that word's not found in the Bible, we'll come across that in a moment. The doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery. Not something unknowable, something that has been concealed, but in these last days revealed. It's important that you understand that. Now all of you looked at me, which means none of you wrote down what I just said. So I'm gonna believe that you are gonna put that into memory. When somebody knocks on your door, you're gonna need to be able to tell them what I'm gonna explain to you, in many ways seems illogical. But we'll see how actually in Scripture and in real logic and reason, it makes absolute sense. And so for all of us this morning, the concept of God, can you jot that down? The concept of God? Everybody's got their concept of God, but we could really, and the Bible could really care less about what your or my concept of God is, if it deviates from the truth. The concept of God is His very nature, is His essence. We're gonna talk about that. The thought, the idea, God's essence, we must consider and in doing so, looking at Scripture come to the conclusion that the Trinity is not only essential, but is in fact clearly taught in the Bible. And by the way, it is not exclusively New Testament doctrine. By the way, man can no longer claim ignorance concerning God and His essence or His nature, essence and nature being the same definition. In Romans 1, verse 20, the Bible says, for since the creation of the world, we studied that last week, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, plurality, Trinity, so that they are without excuse. The fact of the matter is, people who understand in their Bible that the Trinity exists can only do so by revelation of the Holy Spirit Himself. Let me say that again. People who understand regarding the doctrine of the Trinity can only come to that conclusion based upon the revelation of the Holy Spirit. There are those who don't have the Holy Spirit. In other words, they're not a Christian, they're not in the body of Christ, and they can't even come close to figuring out that there's the Father, there's the Son, there's the Holy Spirit. This is a critical issue. One, and people, I'm gonna tell you, I am shocked to have read so much this week on this topic to find out, as each one of these authors spoke about the Trinity, how they all agreed that churches around the world, Christian churches, either A, are ignorant concerning this fact, or B, very, very lightly, if at all, study this doctrine whatsoever. So you might this morning be saying, Jack, what are we gonna get into this topic for? I already know it. Well, then you're gonna be refreshed about some things. But there are many Christians, according to statistics, who don't understand this doctrine, which to me is pathetic because it is a Christian essential. The Trinity, or the triunity of God. God makes it very clear in the Bible that He demands that He be known. He begs to be known. In Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 11 to 13, God says, therefore, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek Me, and you will find Me when you have searched for Me with all of your hearts. So God desires us to search after Him. In John chapter five, verse 39, Jesus says, you search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, but these are they which do testify of Me. Jesus is claiming that the Bible is written about Him. So the question about who God is is extremely important. And what God is, is extremely important. But according to biblical doctrine, it is beyond contradiction or beyond debate. In fact, the Scripture says in Galatians 4, for but when the fullness of time had come, that means at the right time, God sent forth who? His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember that as we go through this study. And then before we dive into this, 1 Timothy 3.16, one of my favorite passages in the Bible, 1 Timothy 3.16 says, beyond all question or beyond all debate, the mystery of godliness is great. He appeared in a body. Who did? God did, in a body. He was vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, and He was believed on in the world, and He was received back up into glory. What a great verse that is, 1 Timothy 3.16. Great is the mystery of godliness. The Trinity is one great mystery of God. The Trinity goes beyond, listen, the Trinity goes beyond human reason, because our God is that great, but it does not violate human reason. Can you remember that? That the doctrine of the Trinity goes beyond human reason, but it does not contradict reason. There is, in fact, the study of the Trinity goes against what is called the law of contradiction. If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will be confirmed about the fact that we serve a God who is comprised of three independent persons. How can we clearly explain it? Well, that's the burden that's on my head this morning. We'll try to do our best this morning. The first thing that we see this morning concerning this is regarding the essence of the Trinity. The essence of the Trinity. The Trinity is seen in scripture by giving us what is called the essence of God or the nature. Maybe you've already jotted that down, but the nature or essence of God. And you say, well, Jack, the word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible. That's exactly right. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, but neither does the word Bible. By the way, neither does the word rapture, at least in English. It appears in the Latin version of the Bible, rapture, but you won't find it in English, yet it's an actual doctrinal fact. Well, the Bible doesn't mention the word Bible, but we know it's a fact. It's sitting in your lap right now. The doctrine of the Trinity, extremely important. Yet the Trinity is maintained in scripture that God has been revealed to us in three distinct persons. Listen, yet in one essence, so now you're confusing me. Just listen carefully. God has revealed himself to mankind via three persons, actual personalities. Don't make the mistake in thinking that persons and personalities are only describing that of a human. I always love to say this. You know what I'm gonna say, some of you who've been around here a while, God is not a human. It was a big deal for Jesus to come to earth and become one. We've got this thing in our mind that God is some huge human. He's 49 feet tall. No, he's not. Well, I mean, I don't know how tall he is, but he's not a big human. The cults would have us believe that Jesus or God is a glorified human. He's not at all. He is a person. The Bible speaks of him in the personal pronoun and the singular in Greek and in Hebrew. He is a person. And yet as the word in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the word there for God is Elohim. Anytime you look at the Hebrew word or scriptures and you come to I am on the end, it is plurality. God is singular. Don't ask me to explain it. Nobody can. God says of himself, he is one God and he has a plurality about him. Do we believe in three gods as Judeo-Christian belief? I say Judeo-Christian because Judeo-Christian belief is so close and parallel regarding this issue. Do we believe in three gods? The Bible says no. We are not polytheistic. To be a polytheist is to believe in many gods. Maybe you're a Mormon. You are a polytheist and you're proud about that. You believe in many gods. Maybe you're Hindu. Maybe you're a Buddhist and you believe in many gods. Well, the Bible says, no, there are not many gods. There's but one God. In Galatians chapter one verse 26, Galatians one or sorry, Genesis 1 26 says, then God said, let us, plural, make man in our image. Now, we were not made in the image of angels. You might say, well, maybe he was talking to an angel that was standing nearby. Oh, no, no. He's talking about God bringing forth mankind in his own image. That is, we are free moral agencies. We pick and choose. You pick and choose what you wore this morning. As you can tell, I did and nobody dressed me. When my house is asleep, I grab what's hanging or what looks most ironed. It's the way I figure. If God wants me to wear it, it looks like it's been ironed. And so I put it on. Well, listen, we are free moral agents. God has given that ability to us. We have a little bit of sovereignty, if I can put it that way. Today, you're gonna choose what you're gonna have for breakfast after service. It's not pre-programmed or pre-packaged. It may be pre-packaged, but not in the mind of God. He knows all things, but you are gonna go pick. You're gonna pick up a menu maybe, and you're gonna look and you're gonna pick. You have that ability. But the very important thing is that we realize as we look to the study this morning that the essence of the Trinity, when we say essence, we also mean nature. And we see here that there's a monotheism of the Trinity. What is that? Well, you know what mono means, don't you? It means singular. Theism is God or the study of God. The study of the singular God. We believe in one God. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 6, 4, the Shema, if you know this in Hebrew, and you're in Israel, they'll shout the Shema. And it is this, Deuteronomy 6, 4. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Yet in that very declaration, and the Hebrew scholars are caught up in a conundrum over this. They can't understand it. And that is, hero Israel, God, singular yet in a plurality, is one. Deuteronomy 6, 4, what a great scripture that is. God is one, yet there's already in that portion of scripture as it was in Genesis, the hint of the plurality. But yet there's one God. In 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6. If I go fast, that's because I'm excited, and I also want you out of here on time today. I terribly violated your time yesterday, and I was beating myself up all week about that. And I gotta tell you something. I came to this conclusion. I don't think it was God because it was too carnal. It was my thought. I thought, now wait a minute. We stayed 20 minutes over service last time in all three services, and some of you said, whoa, following in the footsteps of Hal Lindsey, are you? Because how far he went over, 70 minutes that guy talked. I timed him, loved every minute of it. I don't know about you, but I had nothing better going on that day. And when I go over, I'm sorry about that, but the thing is, what else do we have to do? We're looking at the word of God. We spend maybe all week, at least me, I watched 40 hours of news probably in a week. For crying out loud, if we go over 10 minutes in the study of God, what harm, foul is there? So with that being said, I feel better today. Thank you for indulging me for a moment. The Trinity of God, the doctrine, the essence of it, the Trinity, we see that there's the monotheism. And so in 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6, Paul says, for us there is but one God, Elohim. Singular plurality, go and explain it. That's the hard thing to do. That's what I'm trying to do this morning. It's in scripture, but how do you put it into human words? The second thing we see is that there's a plurality of the Trinity. There's the plurality. By plurality, we mean how God relates to himself. Say what? That's not what the word means to me. Yeah, I know. But this is what it means in biblical theology. Plurality is how God relates to himself. Did you get that? God's not psychotic. He doesn't talk to himself. He does not have multiple personalities. Gee, what color do we want to make the world? Gee, I don't know. What color do you think we should make it? Gee, I don't. And he doesn't sit and have a conversation with himself. The son speaks to the father. The father speaks to the son. The spirit speaks to the son. The spirit speaks to the father. On an ongoing true definition of the original word, dialogue. God dialogues among himself. Singular in the Trinity. Plural. Amazing. Well, Jack, I don't like this because I can't figure it out. I can't see it. I know that's one of those things, but we're going to do our best to help you to kind of get a touch of it this morning. And maybe for some of you that are steeped in a cult, maybe this will liberate your thinking this morning in a wonderful way. Listen, an example. Hebrews 9, verse 14. Concerning the plurality of the Trinity. Hebrews 9, 14. Listen carefully. He says there, how much more shall the blood of Christ, I circle Christ, who through the eternal spirit, I circle eternal spirits, offer himself without spot to God. Yes, that speaks of the father, but the word again is of God in totality. Did you get that? Right there in Hebrews 9, 14 is Christ, which we'll show you this morning is God. The spirit, which we'll show you this morning in the scriptures is God. And there he speaks of God in totality. Hebrews 9, 14. Norman Geisler gives this illustration and I quote Norman Geisler this morning in case you don't get it, you can blame it on him. And here it is. Are you ready? Quote, it has been said that God is one what? With what in quotes. That God is one what? Essence. What would be essence or nature? And three who's, which are his person. Oh man, did you get that? It has been said that God is one what? Quote, close quotes. And three who's, quotes there, which are the persons. The who is the persons, the what is his nature or essence. Let me help you and this is kind of neat. And we steal this from a concept of a man that you know, a guy by the name of Albert Einstein concerning the perfection of mathematics. And by the way, Norman Geisler came up and said that he agreed with Einstein. Einstein said that because math is absolutely perfect, which I told you before is why we hate it so much. It's perfect. It can only speak of a creative God. Math is perfect, thus God must be true. Because it is, so to speak, mathematics is sinless because it's perfect. Even though it's not a person, it's a thing. So check this out. This is amazing. And I hope this does something for you because it did something for me. Check it out. It says here that the closest illustration is this. Not one plus one plus one equals three. That would be Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism. But in Christianity, and in fact, Judeo-Christian teaching, one times one times one equals one. All and each are equal, yet they maintain an identity. Each one of those ones that you see on the screen have all the authority, all the power, all the attributes of the number one. But with God, one is not the loneliest number. It may be for you or me, but not God. One times one times one equals one. How about this? One father times one son times one spirit equals one God. Do you see that? Does that help? I think that helps tremendously. And now you kind of agree with Einstein's observation that because math is perfect, it speaks of a God who created who's perfect. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. They're not three gods, but one God. Each are equal. Each have their identity. Each have their purpose as we'll see this morning. But I found that to be extremely helpful. Another consideration is this. The triangle in geometrical form. The triangle. A triangle is three sides of an equal dimension or length or power. We can put it that way. You can put one side of the triangle blue, one side yellow, and one side green. But the three of them form how many triangles? One triangle. Yet the sides are all equal. Very, very important. And I think a very powerful picture that's seen. So this is a very, very exciting, I think, way to look at it. The third thing that we see this morning is this. That there's a unity to the Trinity. There's a unity. I'm gonna give you some scriptures and then we'll be off to the second point. I gave you this one earlier, but we'll give it to you in its totality. In 1 Corinthians 8, verse six, Paul says, "'For us, there is but one God, the Father, "'of whom are all things, and we are for him.' "'And,' connecting statement, "'one Lord Jesus Christ.'" God is the Father and the Son and the Spirit. 1 John 5, verse seven. 1 John 5, seven says, "'There are three that bear witness in heaven, "'the Father, the Word.'" You know who the Word is, right? The Logos, the Word. It's in capital letters there. The Word, that's Jesus. "'There are three that bear witness in heaven, "'the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. "'These three are one.'" 1 John 5, seven. John chapter eight, verse 29. Am I going too fast? "'And he who sent me,' Jesus said, "'is with me. "'The Father has not left me alone, "'for I always do those things that please him.'" Now you say, Jack, I understand that. There's the Father and there's the Son. But listen, in our Western thinking, you better divorce yourself of one thing right now. In the Bible, the Son is not less than the Father. Remember, we talked about this before under the person of Jesus Christ in our earlier study. Remember, in the Hebrew culture and in your Bible, if you want an answer of authority, you don't have to talk to the Father. You can just go knock on the door. And if the Son opens the door, who represents the household, whatever the Son says in the Jewish mind, it honors the Father. Are you with me on that? You remember that. Well, I wanna speak to your Father. You know, that's what we do here in this Western culture. I don't wanna talk to you. I wanna talk to your Father. Well, you can speak to me. I've been authorized to do all that my Father would have done. Oh, really? See, that's how Jesus came. Jesus didn't somehow lessen Himself to become the Son of God. He came to perform a purpose. He was always God. We saw that in Christ and His eternal existence, Christ from eternity. He has always existed. And so when the Son says something, it's exactly what the Father would say. When the Son authorizes something, it's exactly what the Father authorizes. When the Son lets a woman go who's been caught in the act of adultery, so the Father lets her go. When Jesus opens the eyes of the blind, He's doing exactly the will of the Father. Are you with me? Do you understand that? It's very simple when you look at it in the Hebrew mind or in the Mideast understanding. The second thing that we see this morning is this. And that is Jesus, the Father and the Trinity. We need to understand this. Jesus, the Father and the Trinity. Very, very important. They are one. In 2 John 1, verses, or chapters one through nine, or one in 2 John 1, verse nine, says, whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. I don't know about you, but that gets me excited. Those of you who are witnessing to people and you come up with this doctrine of the Trinity question, you know, I love them dearly, but they're in gross error. And that's our friends who are Jehovah Witnesses. They love to talk about this topic. They love it. Because to them, it's illogical. It's unreasonable. You can't come to a conclusion regarding this person of the Trinity. And they say that you believe in false doctrine. That's not true whatsoever. Just because God is beyond human reason doesn't mean that it's illogical. God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it. That may be unreasonable to you, but not to God. They are one. They are one. Jesus said in John chapter 10, I and my Father are one. The next thing that we see regarding Jesus, the Father and the Trinity, that they are one, also is that they are absolute. They are absolute. I'm gonna ask you to jot down three things regarding how absolute they are. And by the way, just right now, we're mentioning Jesus and the Father, but all these attributes I'm gonna give you are also attributed to the Spirit. They are, write it down, omnipotent. Omni means all, all powerful, omnipotent. God the Father is recorded in scripture as being all powerful. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, it says, Jesus spoke to them and said, all power has been given unto me in heaven and in earth. Friend, if you've got all power that's in heaven and on earth, you've got all power. You are omnipotent. Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is omnipotent. You and I have no problem giving that attribute to God, but listen, somebody might ask you, is God omnipotent? You say, well, of course he is. Now watch this. If you know your Bible and somebody says, well, then is the Holy Spirit omnipotent? You better know the answer to that question. Do you know what it is? Yes. The Bible says in Psalm 139, whether shall I go from thy spirit or where shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend into hell, thou art there. If I go to the heights of heaven, behold, thou art there. So not only is God omnipotent, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Father, because they are God, singular, are omnipresent. You say, well, I don't know if I understand that. Omni means all, present means present. David, Jeremiah was singing earlier and said, we come into your presence with thanksgiving. A friend of mine, cute little story, his father, they're all praying together. Lord, we just come now to your presence. We come now to your presence and days went by. Lord, we come to your presence this morning. We wanna thank you for this day. And by the end of the week, his little son said, you know what? I gotta ask you something, dad. When are we gonna get the presence? I thought that was cute. We come to your presence. Well, where are they? God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. He's everywhere. Psalm 139, verse seven and eight. He's omniscient. The word omniscient is all knowing. By the way, I don't have the scripture reference in front of me, but the verse comes to my mind. The Bible says that the seven eyes of the Spirit are upon us. Seven eyes. Well, it's symbolic language. It means totality, the completeness of God. He sees all. He knows all. There's nothing hidden from him. And 1 John 3, 20. It says, for our hearts, if our heart condemns us. By the way, don't raise your hand, but are you feeling a little spiritually under the weather? Do you feel like you're blowing it as a Christian? That you're somehow drowning in failure? You just seem to be falling apart. Well, first of all, get baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit, for one thing. And then secondly, listen to this verse. It says, for if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Amen, isn't that wonderful? Do you feel condemned? Man, I'm just such a rotten Christian. God says, hey, I know you. I know you're a bumbling knucklehead. Don't condemn yourself anymore. I know you. I know your heart. You wanna follow me. It's beautiful. Well, the next thing that we wanna go to is this, and that's point number three, and that is Jesus, the Spirit, and the Trinity. Jesus, the Spirit, and the Trinity. And the first thing that we see here is this, that Jesus, the Spirit, Jesus and the Spirit, they have personality. Now we can all say, well, of course, Jesus has a personality, but the Spirit, for many people, the Holy Spirit is almost somebody that they're afraid of. Why? Because some people have a hard time relating to him. How do we call him? What is a him? Well, he's always spoken of in scripture with the personal pronoun. Did you know that? Ladies, I don't mean to be offensive by this, but God says in his original scripture that he is a he. But take heart, he's nothing like us men. But he speaks of himself in a male gender. Don't know why? Just that he is. He says he's a he. And the Holy Spirit, throughout scripture, says that he is a he. Personal pronoun. Jesus, we can relate to him, no problem. Jesus, the Spirit, and personality. In 2 Samuel, chapter 23, verse two. 2 Samuel 23, two says, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and his words were on my tongue. That's interesting. The Holy Spirit speaks. He has that power. Not only that, in Acts, chapter 13, verse two. There the Bible says, and as they ministered under the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, quote, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. I, personal pronoun, describing whom? The Holy Spirit. He is a person. He can speak. Thank God he does. When was the last time you heard from him, by the way? He loves to use the Bible. Jesus even told us. He said, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will speak whatsoever things I've commanded you. And he will teach you and what is implied from the word of God. You want the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Read your Bible. That's all I can tell you. You don't read your Bible, you won't hear God speak. Anybody who says, I don't hear God speak, I know this is just between us. But when somebody says to me, I don't hear God speak, either A, they're not reading their Bible or B, they haven't learned to understand or recognize his voice when he speaks. And again, there's always this one. When you do something wrong, he always seems to speak very loud and clear. I have no problem hearing him when I'm either thinking about doing something wrong or have done it. And it's always, Jack. It's never, Jack. It's never, Jack. It's, Jack. Yes, sir. He's just got this tone, you know, in his voice. Jot this down concerning the person of the Holy Spirit. And it's obvious that we know this concerning Jesus, but the Holy Spirit, he has a will. He has a will. I'll give you one verse, though there are many. Isaiah 48, 16. Isaiah 48, 16 says, "'Come near to me. "'Hear this. "'I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. "'From the time that was passed, I was there. "'And now the Lord God and his spirit have sent me.'" Isn't that wonderful? He has a will. I'll throw in another scripture, even though I told you I wasn't gonna give you another one. In the book of Ephesians chapter four, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives gifts to the members of the body of Christ. Jesus doesn't give them. The Father doesn't give them. The Holy Spirit gives them. Interesting. He has emotions. The Holy Spirit has emotions. Isaiah 63, verse 10 says, "'But they rebelled and grieved.'" The word in Hebrew is made angry. "'They rebelled and made angry His Holy Spirit. "'So the Spirit turned and became their enemy "'and He fought against them.'" This is in relation to the children of Israel going through the desert. Can you imagine? Can you imagine so upsetting the Holy Spirit that He turns and becomes your enemy? Wow. Isaiah 63, 10. "'You can make angry the Holy Spirit.'" The Bible says in Thessalonians, "'Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.'" He has an intellect. He has a mind. In 1 Corinthians 2, 10, the Bible says, "'But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. "'For the Spirit searches all things, "'yes, the deep things of God.'" He has an intellect. He has deep, obviously, deep understanding. Also this we go to. Jesus, the Spirit and personality. Also Jesus, the Spirit and purpose. And people, we need to go quick with this, okay? I'm gonna run through these very quickly. The purpose, Matthew 1, verse 18. "'Now the birth of Jesus Christ is as follows. "'After His mother was engaged to Joseph "'before they had union, physical union, "'before they had sex, "'she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.'" That was the purpose of God. The purpose of the Trinity was at work. How did Mary become pregnant? By the person of the Holy Spirit. Her humanity, by the way, her DNA, her bloodline was in Jesus, but not Joseph's. If you know the Bible well, you know that from the curse of Jeconiah, none of his descendants, which Joseph was related to, could have the blood in the Messiah. So what did God do? God had the Holy Spirit just, and she was pregnant. A miraculous conception by God. Titus chapter three, verses four through six. Titus three, four through six says, "'But when the kindness and the love of God, "'our Savior toward men appeared, "'not by works of righteousness which we have done, "'but according to His own mercies He has saved us, "'through the washing of the regeneration "'and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, "'whom He poured out on us abundantly "'through Jesus Christ, our Savior.'" There's the Trinity right there in those few verses. On and on I could go, I'll give them to you, you can jot them down. I can't read all these passages in front of me, but John chapter 16, verse seven and eight, John 14, 16 through 18, all of these speak about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit regarding the great purpose of the Trinity. The next thing that we see also is this. Jesus, the Spirit, and prerogative, that is prerogative having the right or the position, the privilege or authority. The Bible makes it very clear in Genesis chapter one, verse two, that it was the Holy Spirit who was brooding over the waters of creation. The Holy Spirit was a tool, so to speak, at the workful hands of Jesus. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter one that it is Jesus who was in fact the creator. But Genesis one, verse two, says the Spirit was moving upon the creative powers of the earth. Also, not only is the prerogative of the Spirit and of Jesus of the Trinity to be a creator, but also the divine judge. In Joel chapter three, verse 12, the Bible says that all the nations in the last moments of world history as we know it, the nations will be gathered together there in the valley of Jehoshaphat or Armageddon. And it says there that God will sit upon his throne and judge the nations. Well, in Matthew chapter 25, you have that fulfilled. At the end of the second coming of Christ, the battle of Armageddon there has now come to a conclusion. And in Matthew chapter 25, there Jesus separates the nations, the sheep from the goats, not Christians. It is not Christians or non-Christians. It is the nations from Israel and the final judgment upon this earth. The prerogative of the Spirit of God is that he's judge. Also, that he's the authority. Are you guys all right? That he's the authority. Very quickly, the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter five, verses three through four. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart that you should lie to the Holy Spirit? Can you lie to an it? You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you that the Holy Spirit is an it. It's a force. It's, no, it's not. He's a person. Can you lie to an it? You can lie to the flagpole out here all the time of day there. It's not gonna do anything to you. But if you lie to somebody, you're gonna upset them. Jesus told, or Peter, excuse me, told Ananias, why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied unto man, but unto God. Wow, Acts chapter five, Luke 3, 21. And it came to pass that Jesus, when he was baptized, and while he prayed, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, not the spirit, but from heaven saying, you are my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. There's the Trinity right there. And then our fourth and final point, and I've got some great stuff for you here. This is exciting. I hope you're ready. Are you guys ready, kind of ready to write this down? This is really gonna help you in a huge way. Jesus, the son of the Trinity. I like that. I like that little tie. I made it up myself. Jesus, the son of the Trinity. I love that. Jesus Christ, the son of creation. I think we know about that. We understand that. But listen, Jesus, the son of the Trinity. Listen, in John chapter eight, verse 56, begins there where Jesus says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it. He's speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. And he was glad. Then the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years of age. How then can you say that you've seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am. Oh yeah, we'll come back to that in a moment. That's awesome. That's the eternal name of God, the I am. And by the way, when he said, I am, in John chapter 10, verse 31, it says there that they picked up stones to kill him for saying that. You know, some people say, well, Jesus never claimed to be God. That's another admission of biblical ignorance. In John chapter 10, verse 31, they understood exactly what he said. Then the Jews took up stones again to throw at him. But Jesus answered and said to them, for many good works I've done from you, from my father, which of these works do you stone me for? And you can just see them. It's like, and they rear back and he goes, hey, for which work are you gonna stone me for? What are you gonna kill me for now? And you can write right in mid pitch. Well, we're not gonna stone you for any work that you've done, but because you blaspheme, because you being a man declare yourself to be God. John chapter 10, verses 31 to 33. That's rather clear, don't you think? Well, Jesus, the son, the son of creation. We don't need to go into that because we've done it already. Jesus Christ, the son of salvation. Now I'm gonna go through this and I want you to grab this. This is precious, you all know it. John 3, 16, I want you to hear it because maybe it's gonna make an impact like never before. For God, who's that? Well, God, singular plurality. So you could say the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, soul of the world, that he gave his only glorified son or begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Now listen, 1 John 3, 16, not John 3, 16, but this next one. 1 John 3, 16 says, "'By this we know love because he laid down his life for us.'" Who did? Come on, don't be shy. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. But if you read John 3, 16, Jesus came out from God. That means God laid down his life for us. That's not too difficult to understand. But I hope this morning it's graphically made clear. I'm gonna show you something here. I want you to take a close look at this and I'll explain something. First of all, look again at that second point. Jesus Christ, the son of salvation. You see that? The Bible says there's no other way to get to heaven. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. And no man comes to the father but through me. Do you believe that? Do you think that Satan hates that truth? Do you think that he wants to oppose it? Do you think he wants to send a message out against it? Listen, this is extremely important. Look at that. Jesus Christ, he is our salvation. It's either a spiritual fact or who could care less about it? Check this out. This is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Around the edge of that, do you see the large portion of it? You see the gold dome there, obviously. And you see now the bigger base underneath. Written in Aramaic or Arabic. Around that high point there in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount, by the way, it's the highest structure on the Temple Mount. Listen to what it says. God is not begotten. Neither does God have a son. Why would the Muslims put that on one of their most holy shrines? Why there on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem? That is a declaration. That cover-up, that attempted cover-up proclaims the truth. That's the last thing Satan wants people to know is that Jesus Christ is God's son. It's awesome. Not only that, but listen to this. The scripture teaches us who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ. He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. That's powerful. Jesus Christ, the Son for eternity. Jesus Christ, the Son for eternity. And listen, we'll wrap it up right here. Jot these down and we'll be done. Are you ready for this? This is fun stuff here. Isaiah 48, 12. There you can see it. I'll read it to you. Jesus Christ is in fact God. Isaiah 48, 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, and hear me, Israel. My called, I am he. I am the first and I am the last. Isaiah 48, 12. Isaiah 44, 6. You can write them down. You see them on the screen. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am with the last, and besides me there is no God. How many gods are there? One. He says, I am the first and I am the last. That's one God speaking. That's Isaiah 44, 6. Isaiah 41, verse 4. Isaiah 41, 4 says, Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first. Get a load of this. And I am with the last. You get that? Isn't that something? Next one, Isaiah 43, 10. We're almost done. Isaiah 43, 10. You are my witnesses. Well, who are his witnesses? We'll find out in a minute. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. One God, only one. Look at the next verse, Revelation 1, 8. Revelation 1, 8, jot it down. He says, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is, who was, who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1, 8. Next one, Revelation 1, 11. Are you getting writer's cramp? Oh, but you're gonna get smart. We'll be over, we'll be done soon. You'll be so smart. Revelation 1, 11, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last. Revelation 4, 8. And the four living creatures, each having six wings with full of eyes around and within, they do not rest day or night, and they say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, who is to come. Revelation 22, 13. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. That's only the attributes or the qualities given to one God, one God only. Revelation 21, 6. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. We're all talking about the same God, Yahweh God, or in English, you would say Jehovah God. Well, Revelation 1, 17. John says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though I were dead, but he laid his right hand upon me and he says, do not be afraid, I am the first and the last. Anybody have any doubt who that is? There's only one first and the last. We'll look at Revelation 1, verses 17 and 18. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead, but he laid his right hand upon me saying, do not be afraid, I am the first and I am the last. I am he who lives and was dead, and behold him alive forevermore. Any questions? Revelation 2, 8. These things says he who is the first and the last who was dead and came back to life. Wow, God died. God died 2000 years ago on a cross. How did he do it? By the person of Jesus Christ, God the Son. 1 John 5, 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us the understanding to know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 Timothy 3, 16. We've already read it this morning. So we'll skip to Titus 2, 13. That we are to be looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. John 8, 58. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was, I am. Exodus 3, 14. And God said to Moses, I am who that I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am sent you. Isn't that awesome? I don't know about you, but if this was a Pentecostal church, we all would have shouted amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we are so absolutely excited about the fact that the Holy Spirit is at work with your word in our hearts. That the testimony as the scripture says of God is sure. And Lord, though we approach you this morning, we have a little bit better understanding. We understand from your Bible that Jesus is praying, making intercession for the saints. And the Bible also says that the Holy Spirit, he is praying. And we also know, Father, that prayer is to be directed to our Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.