The Trinity

​John 16: 12-15

Do Not Be Afraid, There is Enough, You Are Enough!

We found the Son of God during Lent and we followed him and his disciples to the cross. We watched the Son leave the Father and give his life for the salvation of the earth. He rose from the grave. He defeated sin and death when his dead body began to breathe again. He told his disciples that he had to go, and that he would send back the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort them. Jesus kept his promises and last week we saw the Holy Spirit appear and empower the disciples and the church was born. 

There is so much proof in scripture of this three-in-one God that we could indeed spend more than a few minutes here this morning talking about this and learning about this. 
Augustine’s definition of the doctrine of the Trinity: “The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by Himself, is God, and at the same time they are all one God… The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son: but the Father is only the Father, the Son is only the Son, and the Holy Spirit is only the Holy Spirit.”

With the words of the great theologian in mind I thought we would look at some key points in scripture that speak to this like today’s text. If we go back a little bit we see that Jesus, in the upper room was attempting to provide some peace and some clarity for the disciples about what was going to happen. 

John 14: 26 "But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

John 16: 12-13 - "There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future."

So Jesus is telling them that this Holy Spirit is going to come, and that it would be the Father that would send the Holy Spirit. When this Spirit comes it will be the bearer of Jesus’ words.
 
John 16: 14-15 - "He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’"

Jesus, who is now sitting at the right hand of God will be telling the Holy Spirit what he wants us to know. The Spirit is the very essence of God, sent to the earth to be the unseen yet obviously felt and heard presence of the Son. 

Now it is true that all three were together at the creation of the world and it was even the Holy Spirit that been with Mary when she became pregnant with Jesus, the Son and that was through the will of the Father!

The apostle Paul was known for his in depth interaction with this same Spirit. Saul became Paul after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, and yet through the Spirit, Jesus was able to use words and impact Paul’s life. 

2 Corinthians 13: 14 - "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
And 
1 Corinthians 8:6 - "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit play a very big part in this world. We often times want to get caught up in what the world is and that is merely the fallen world of God’s creation. It is the truth. This world is full of death, disease, cancer, evil of all kinds like murder, hate, selfishness, and there is punishment for all of these things. While that is true, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are very much alive and are very much wanting to be a part of your journey through this fallen world. 

Jesus played a very big part in all of this for you and me. The Trinity was alive and well at the creation of the earth. As this creation, which God wanted to have a free will, setting us apart from animals and other parts of creation, mankind constantly failed. When Adam and Eve disobeyed and disappointed God, it would begin the many years of mankind trying to come to a right relationship with God through many ways, and it was Jesus who was sent to earth to be a man in order that this justification might take place once and for all. 

There is hope this morning.

Jesus the Son came to the earth to save us from our sins. He came to put an end to death and sin, and give us a chance to use our free will to accept this gift of grace. 
Once we do that, we have a unique access to the Holy Spirit that is here and dwelling within us in order to show us, teach us, and advise us on how to live this life. I look back on my life and I wonder how I kept this undercover for so long. The more that I spend time in Scripture and in prayer the more and more that it has no choice but to spill out. This gift is available to anyone who wants to lay claim to this. Yet, so many times we do not lay claim to this strength, power, and hope that is found in having the Triune God living within us! 
Jesus is alive, through the Spirit and this is our living hope! We are saved from our sinful selves, by nothing of our own doing. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit lives within us. 
Are we ready to embrace this and share God with the world around us? Can we put our differences, and opinions of people aside long enough to make sure that they see the Triune God that we know?
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Let’s give it a shot!

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